Sarah Smahane (France, 1995) grew up in a suburban town, the daughter of Moroccan immigrant parents. Her artistic name holds strong symbolic value: Smahane is the middle name given to her by her paternal grandfather, inspired by the Golden Age of Arabic music, including figures such as Abdelhalim El Hafiz, Fairuz and Umm Kulthum, as well as paying homage to the Syrian singer Asmahan. From an early age, she experienced cultural tensions and conflicts that led her to question her identity. At the age of eight, she began her education in art by working with a local painter, an experience that lasted seven years. She later studied Art and Design in Paris, where she worked for prestigious agencies serving clients in the West and the MENA region. Within this context, she collaborated with artisans from North Africa, the Middle East and Europe, rediscovering and fully embracing the richness of her multiple heritages: French, Moroccan, Amazigh and Arab. French, Moroccan, Amazigh and Arab. 

Shareef Sarhan (Gaza, 1976) is a visual artist and photographer. He is a founding member of Shababeek for Contemporary Art and a member of the Palestinian Artists Association. Sarhan earned his university degree in Art. He attended the Darat Al Funun Academy in Jordan. He received the Bronze Award at the Arab Photographers Festival in 2008 and the Recognition Award in 2007. Sarhan produced an illustrated book titled “Gaza Live.” His work has been exhibited in Gaza, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Amman, the United States, France, Germany and Italy. 

Mosa One (Rome, 1997) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work ranges from hand-sewn textiles to murals and installations. Originally from the suburbs of Rome, he began his journey in art at the age of 13 through graffiti, placing his first signatures on the streets of his neighborhood. At 19, he was invited to paint a mural at MACRO, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome, which marked a turning point in his career. Since then, he has collaborated with institutions and brands such as UNICEF, Netflix and Nike, having put on exhibitions in Italy and abroad. The son of an Egyptian family, the two-fold nature of his identity is central to his artistic research, in which he explores the richness of belonging to two cultures and two seemingly opposite ways of life. His work also addresses social criticism and the struggle against injustices affecting our planet.

Samir Abdallah (Copenhagen, 1959) is the son of pioneering Egyptian modern artist Hamed Abdalla and a Danish nurse. After studying drama and film at the University of Nanterre in the 1980s, he co-founded the IM’média agency with his brother, producing reports and documentaries on immigration for French television channel FR3 (1988–1991). As a filmmaker, he has directed numerous documentaries addressing social and political issues, including L’Islam de France (1990), La Révolte de Vaulx-en-Velin (1991), La Ballade des sans-papiers (1996), Chronique d’un siège (2003), Écrivains des frontières (2004), Gaza-Strophe, Palestine (2010) and Au Caire de la Révolution. In 1991, he founded L’Yeux Ouverts, an organization that promotes workshops in neighborhoods and coordinates the Cinemeteque, an international network of over 3,000 collectives in Europe, the Arab world and the Americas, devoted to disseminating critical cinema showing contemporary reality.