Over the years, the Calgary Arab Arts & Culture Society has been an active member of the community. Between supporting initiatives and partnering in events, the Society has gained recognition and been part of the vibrant Calgary arts scene.

The Calgary Arab Arts & Culture Society organized in 2016 for the first time, an exhibition for newly arriving Syrian entrepreneurs resettled in Canada, which allowed for the discovery of amazing talents. At the following Film Festival it organized in 2017, a great opportunity was given to Syrian artists to perform a show at the opening night. That artistic endeavor developed to be the Arab Canadian Theatre, Kawalease ACT, which received its official recognition in 2024. In 2023, CAA&CS was one of the sponsors of the huge production by Kawalease ACT, “Interrogation”. It is worth noting that the playwright was a CAA&CS board member and also the director and the Founder of Kawalease.

Since then, CAA&CS has been a community partner of the Calgary International Film Festival during its annual copies. Based on that, the Calgary Arab Arts & Culture Society struck partnerships with other festivals, such as the Calgary European Film Festivals, the Calgary Justice Film Festival, the Okotoks Film Festival and, underway, the Alliance Francaise and the Festival du Film Francophone. In addition, the Moroccan Festival Marocain du Film Oujda has donated more than a film to our past festivals and invited members of the board to sit on their selection committees. 

Between 2016 and 2021, the Calgary Arab Arts & Culture Society sponsored the local radio show, Calgary Arabia, and its founder, Noha Mohamed, in her coverage of the 2021 & 2022 Cannes International Film Festival in France as well as the 2021 & 2022 coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival. 

In 2022, the Okotoks Film Festival organized an Egyptian Film Evening, which CAA&CS was happy to provide, and also took care of the cultural program and catering. In the same year, the Calgary Arab Arts & Culture Society donated an Arab film to the Calgary European Film Festival. The same happened with the Calgary Justice Film Festival.

In 2023, CAA&CS continued its collaboration with the CUFF and Kawalease ACT by supporting their production. 

In 2024, the Calgary Arab Film Nights Festival because an official Supporter of the Calgary Justice Film Festival, supporting the screening of the Syrian short, “Black Rain in My Eyes”, and the Chairperson will be a co-presenter and discussant after the film.

For all these successes, the Calgary Arab Arts & Culture Society decided to transform from a working board and initiate an administrative body to take care of increasing activities and repertoire. With this transformation, the Society issued its Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Statement/Policy, and started drifting towards institutional funding, which reached fruition in 2024 with partnership with and support from the Calgary Arts Development, The City of Calgary, The Government of Alberta and Heritage Canada.