Zahed Sultan

Having released music videos and short films between 2011 and 2017, Sultan completed his first documentary film Vibrations in 2018 which he co-directed and executive produced. The film follows Sultan's journey as he re-imagines heritage music from Kuwait in the form of a cultural exchange with young musicians in Kingston, Jamaica while emphasizing the role social and political challenges played in forming a vibrant, creative community in the country today.[22] Vibrations received special screenings in London and Kuwait in 2018, each included a short performance and q&a with the audience.[44] Vibrations was also screened in film festivals and independent cinemas from 2018 - 2019 and received awards at the Scandinavian International Film Festival[45] and Houston International Film and Video Festival and official selections by the Brighton Rocks Film Festival and Amsterdam International Filmmaker Festival.[46]

Sultan continues to release short films through his work in live performance and culture.

While developing his music career, Sultan has put an emphasis on environmental awareness. This can be traced back to an exhibition he created in 2007 called REUSE which promoted eco-friendly living through art.[47] Various editions of the exhibition featured up and coming talents from Kuwait through to renowned international artists such as Hassan Hajjaj[48] and Jose Gonzalez. In 2016, Sultan redirected the exhibition's focus "to create a space for artists and audiences to interact using digital media, with an emphasis on light, sound and physical performance."[49] REUSE was presented in Dubai in 2017[50] and most recently at The Scientific Center in Kuwait in 2019 to "offer people the opportunity to investigate and make their own decisions about complex environmental issues."[51]

In 2019, Sultan was honored with the HSSE Award by Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC) for his work in striving to raise eco-awareness in the region.[52] "It's about [nurturing] a kind of citizen who is aware of their imprint on the system" says Sultan.[53]

Sultan has also been referred to as "Kuwait's one man music industry"[54] and "the man single-handedly pushing it forward".[55] In 2014, he compiled a soundscape for a travelling design exhibition Islamopolitan that featured contemporary music from the Middle East which showed in Sharjah, Istanbul, Milan and Kuwait.[56] In 2015, Sultan created the Kuwait Rising music festival with Red Bull to feature emerging music from the Arab world and beyond.[57] Over the years, the festival has hosted artists from South Asia, MENA, Europe, UK and US such as Joss Stone and HVOB.[58] The festival faced public backlash in 2019 when Lebanese band Mashrou' Leila was invited to perform "on the basis that they 'promote homosexuality' which is strongly condemned."[59] In 2017, Sultan was invited by UK music blog Stamp The Wax to create a City Guide to his favorite places in Kuwait along with a music mix of emerging talent from the country. "Zahed is helping grow Kuwait's unique underground music scene and put the Arab city on the international alternative music scene's map."[60] In 2020, Sultan introduced a new rhythm and poetry series called G.O.A.T to highlight artists shaping culture and society.[61]

Sultan is "not afraid to express himself through drastically different means and mediums".[62] In London, he has taken an interest "in creating a space for people who come from communities with marginalized voices to come together".[63] He developed a residency program and multi-arts festival in 2019 called Haramacy to amplify Middle Eastern and South Asian voices in the city. Acting as a catalyst for cross-cultural engagement, Haramacy creates a safe space for artists to explore intersectional social systems (race, gender, class and ethnicity) that exist within their communities.[64] Adding to its activities in 2020, Haramacy "is also organizing talks and a publication that dive deeper into the subjects tackled by the [residency] program and festival."[65]

In 2019, Sultan founded COMMUN to bring all of his culture projects together under one umbrella "With an overarching theme of community-building, touching upon more than one sense at a time."[66]

Sultan also takes part in conferences to share his work and experiences with a wider audience. In 2016 Sultan was a panelist at the C/O Pop Festival in Cologne, Germany, discussing Cultural Entrepreneurship and how to learn from the creative music industry.[67] In the same year, Sultan presented a performance talk at the Nuqat conference in Kuwait entitled The Institute of the Future.[68] In 2017, Sultan presented a talk at the STEP Music Conference in Dubai on the inspiration behind his traditional pearl diving music project, Hiwar. In 2019, Sultan travelled to Sydney, Australia to participate on two panels at EMC, Middle East and North Africa's Electronic Revolution and Systemic Shift: Taking Sustainability from Buzz Word to Reality.[69]

In 2008, Sultan co-founded en.v, an organization that mobilizes and connects change-makers to effectively and collaboratively address community challenges, with the long-term goal of fostering a more compassionate, innovative and sustainable society.[70] As part of its mission to enhance the impact of the civic sector in Kuwait, en.v creates inclusive spaces for members of the community to come together, share knowledge, increase coordination and spark collaborations, "to make citizens aware of their mark on society."[71] "en.v has a number of programs that aim to influence Kuwaiti society for the better,"[72] through ongoing data collection and analysis, the organization responds to the needs and aspirations of local change-makers and "offers a forum for ideas and opinions, bravely touching upon issues considered taboo or rarely mentioned in Middle Eastern countries". One such example is a program called AWAKEN which brings people together from different backgrounds to think creatively about social issues in Kuwait. Through activities such as a community building festival and participatory discussions, AWAKEN's "goal is to create an inclusive space for people from diverse sections of society where they can have their voices heard."[73]

Sultan's father, Ghazi Sultan, is from Kuwait and studied at Harvard University under the Bauhaus-legend Walter Gropius and went on to co-found one of the largest architectural firms in the Middle East, KEO International Architects.[74] He also co-founded a leading gallery for modern Arab art, Sultan Gallery.[75] His mother, Aruna Sultan, is from India and is a landscape designer, «who championed the right of women to work onboard Air India at a time when the profession was considered disreputable».[74] Sultan has two brothers, Nader Sultan and Tahir Sultan.

• Official website