MENA’s Only Art Festival for Women, She Arts, Returns This October

In a region where women artists are too often pushed to the periphery, She Arts Festival is refusing to play by inherited rules. Returning from October 2nd to 5th, the festival is expanding its footprint across the New Administrative Capital, AUC Tahrir in Cairo, and Alexandria, bringing its message across Egypt.

She Arts is still the only art festival of its kind in the MENA region, one dedicated entirely to spotlighting women in the arts. From contemporary dance and music to visual arts and panel discussions, the festival unapologetically centres women’s voices, stories and creative legacies.

“By consistently creating space for women, the festival directly challenges systemic imbalance in the cultural sector,” Neveen Kenawy, Founder & Director of She Arts Festival, tells CairoScene.

This year’s edition will see a packed multidisciplinary programme featuring rising names and established figures from across the region. But sustaining a women-led initiative in an industry still dominated by mainstream, and often male, priorities remains a fight.

“Our biggest challenge has been securing consistent funding for a women-focused initiative in a space that often prioritises mainstream narratives,” Kenawy says.

Now in its fourth year, She Arts has become a signal to the region that women aren’t waiting for permission. They’re making their own stages and filling them.