Naseej Initiative: New Artistic Collaborations and Partnerships in Six Syrian Cities

Ettijahat – Independent Culture announces the collaborations and partnerships that will receive support in the second edition of the Naseej Initiative. The selection committee has chosen to support six artistic collaborations bringing together different cultural entities, as well as collaborations between entities and individual artists. These collaborations are active in various Syrian cities and across multiple artistic fields, including music, theatre, visual arts, and interdisciplinary practices, reflecting the diversity of the submitted initiatives and the richness of the themes they address.

The Naseej Initiative aims to empower practitioners in the cultural and artistic sectors to develop spaces for research, collaboration, and engagement with diverse audiences across the Syrian landscape. This is achieved by supporting touring performances and joint artistic events, and by enabling their presentation to the public in different Syrian regions and governorates.

 

The project aims to empower 20 young men and women through an intensive theatre lab that transforms their experiences in post-conflict areas into collective interactive performances. These performances will be presented as a travelling theatre initiative moving across Tartous and its surrounding countryside to open community dialogue and break isolation, based on the idea that theatre can serve as a tool for peacebuilding and for discovering a shared identity.

 

This collaboration seeks to revive the traditional art of shadow theatre and introduce it to new generations. The project includes three performances, panels, and a training workshop for children, youth, and women, aiming to promote coexistence and peacebuilding through a symbolic language of light, shadows, hand puppets, and folk music.

 

An artistic and cultural collaboration that connects women’s voices with local craft heritage through chorus training sessions and performances accompanied by visits to the Silk Museum and Masyaf Castle. The project seeks to revive the songs that were traditionally sung during the practice of natural silk production and to reconnect the local community with its cultural memory through an interactive experience that brings together art and heritage.

 

A collective singing evening presenting Eastern a cappella, a vocal style in which singers perform music using only their voices, without musical instruments, while incorporating Eastern musical modes (maqams) and vocal ornamentation. The project aims to express memory and belonging. It includes reinterpretations of well-known songs in new styles as a collective response to the question “How are your spirits?”, transforming individual reflections into a shared voice that embraces nostalgia, anxiety, and the determination to continue living and creating art.

 

An environmental sculpture exhibition held within the forest, transforming a natural trail into an interactive artistic experience. Visitors are guided along a path featuring animal sculptures made from charred wood and natural materials, highlighting forest fires and the human impact on the environment, while inviting reflection on responsibility and the protection of nature.

 

A participatory project offering creative activities and artistic performances to promote the principle of nonviolence and children’s right to safety away from violence and the random use of weapons. The project includes a children’s theatre performance, a storytelling evening, a billboard, and a short film. These activities will be presented in three cultural centres and at the Roman Theatre, with the aim of raising awareness among children and their families and encouraging adolescents to become the heroes of the story and contributors to building a safer environment.

 

Selection Committee

The selection committee consisted of:

• Fadi Assaf: Visual artist and cultural manager
• Bashar Issa: Musician and cultural manager
• Dima Abaza: Cultural manager

Jury Committee Statement

The submitted projects reflect a clear creative energy and a genuine desire among participants to transform their ideas into effective artistic and social initiatives. The projects were distributed across diverse geographical areas, including regions far from central urban hubs as well as areas affected by violence. This reflects the vitality of local communities, their engagement, and their growing interest in artistic activities as spaces for expression, dialogue, and the rebuilding of social ties.

The projects were notable for their diversity in artistic disciplines and media, covering multiple fields and involving participants from different age groups who sought to express the current reality through a variety of creative tools. Some initiatives also demonstrated a tendency toward building collaborations across cities, moving beyond a focus on a single locality and enhancing opportunities for networking and knowledge exchange across different local contexts.

In this regard, the committee encourages participants to further develop their projects through consultation with specialists or experts, in ways that enhance the quality of ther implementation and help achieve the desired impact. The committee also emphasizes the importance of establishing clear timelines and precise implementation details that clarify the project’s trajectory, stages, and expected outcomes. It further invites applicants to connect their artistic initiatives to pressing and important issues such as the environment, women’s freedom, human rights, and the creative expression of social concerns through innovative and context-sensitive approaches.

The committee also stresses the importance of considering the sustainability of projects and building forms of long-term collaboration whenever possible, ensuring that the impact continues beyond the support period. It encourages participants to benefit from available networking sessions and workshops in order to develop their skills, refine their tools, and formulate their proposals with greater coherence and clarity.

Finally, the committee expresses its appreciation for the enthusiasm and creativity demonstrated in the submitted projects and encourages all participants to continue linking culture with community, contributing to the development of a more vibrant and impactful cultural landscape that remains responsive to ongoing transformations and challenges.

 

This initiative is supported by the Embassy of France in Syria and Stichting DOEN.