Create Syria Concludes Its Second Edition in February with an Art Forum and a Panel on the Effectiveness of Arts, Beirut
Feb 2019
In partnership with the British Council, Ettijahat organizes the art forum On the Brink of Change which will bring together cultural and development actors. The Forum will be on 12-13 February 2019 at ZOUKAK Studio in Beirut.
The purpose of this forum is to shed light on the artistic and cultural practices happening in the area of arts and social change, and to offer a space for discussion on the effectiveness and priorities of the arts in their respective civil and social contexts. The Forum will include discussions, dialogue sessions and intensive workshops. It will also showcase some of the creative work resulting from the artistic projects supported under the second edition of Create Syria: a Project to Empower Syrian Art in Exile.
More than 30 artists, art practitioners and cultural actors will share their experiences on the role of the arts in social change. The Forum will include participants from Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia, UK, Germany and Serbia. Moreover, it will be an opportunity to profile the work of ten initiatives and organizations operating in Lebanon in the context of arts and social change.
"The title of the Forum is inspired by our belief in the need to consider the changes that impose themselves on the Arab region and the arts scene and their active role at the heart of social change. These changes affect arts producers and recipients and necessarily impact strategies and tools of creative work," said Abdallah Al Kafri. "Hence we chose to organize this Forum to be an opportunity to deepen the value of the arts as a tool for the empowerment of ideas and practices of civil society."
The second edition of Create Syria was launched early 2018, with the aim of strengthening and enhancing the expertise of Syrian artists and cultural actors in exile. It also seeks to provide an empowering environment that prepares artists, cultural actors and civil society organizations to play a leading role in improving the living conditions of Syrians by supporting creative efforts and initiatives that contribute to fostering cooperation between Syrians and host communities.
In its second edition, Create Syria provided training and financial support for five projects in theater and animation. These projects have been implemented in various areas of Lebanon and have directly benefited more than 300 Syrian, Syrian-Palestinian and Lebanese participants from different age groups. The productions resulting from these projects have been performed over the course of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019.
Stephanie Twigg, British Council's Syria Arts Manager said, "The Create Syria programme is all about supporting artists and the communities they work with to test new ideas and approaches and ultimately improve the quality and sustainability of their initiatives. This forum is a key step on that journey, offering local practitioners here in Lebanon with a space to come together, share their experience, and connect with people working in similar ways from across the Arab world, the UK and internationally.”
The Forum will feature performances of certain parts of the projects supported under the second edition of Create Syria, including musical and theater performances in progress. The forum will also include panel discussions and presentations in Arabic and English led by a group of specialists. The program will conclude with a concert on February 13 at 09:00 pm.
On the Brink of Change is organized in cooperation with MIMETA, the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Goethe-Institut and the Heinrich Böll Foundation-Middle East.
For more information and to register to attend the event please contact us at createsyria@ettijahat.org.