Sheikh Imam Cultural Club is delighted to announce a planned collaboration with Hatem Kiwan across several of its core activities. The partnership will bring together Hatem's expertise in Arabic musical production and performance with the Club's mission of keeping Sheikh Imam's repertoire alive, performed, and accessible to new audiences. Areas of collaboration include the organisation of collective singing sessions, the co-production of live concerts and public performances, and the creation of contemporary musical arrangements of classic works from the Sheikh Imam legacy. A further dimension of this partnership is an upcoming contribution to the Club's Collective Transcription Project, an initiative dedicated to rendering Sheikh Imam's music into written notation, building a lasting and freely accessible educational archive for new clubs, musicians, researchers, and cultural practitioners around the world. This collaboration reflects a shared conviction: that Sheikh Imam's music, as an enduringly vital and culturally resonant legacy, belongs not only in the archive, but on the stage, and in the voices of new generations.
Hatem Kiwan is a Syrian musician, singer, and composer based in London, working as a music producer and screen composer whose sound blends the richness of Arabic musical heritage with contemporary Western influences.
He has collaborated with the Orchestra of Syrian Musicians, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and Damon Albarn, and performed in the West End production Umm Kulthum & the Golden Era. His work spans live performance, studio production, and composition for film, games, and media.
Beyond his own music, Hatem is co-founder of Vita Productions and DYARR Collective, a London platform giving Arab artists space across music, poetry, food, and visual art. His practice moves fluidly between stage, screen, and the wider creative work that carries Arab culture into new contexts.
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