Culture Resource is pleased to announce the grantees of the June 2019 round of Wijhat. The jury selected 9 grantees out of 162 applications, 5 for international travels and 4 for travels within the Arab region.
Grantees:
Ahlam El Morsli, Morocco / choreographer
The grant enables Ahlam El Morsli and the Col’jam company to travel from Morocco to Ajaccio, France to present their work, Kayan, in the framework of the activities of Dissidance, “the choreographic pole of the Mediterranean in Corsica”. The event is part of the cooperation between the Corsica region and the countries of the Mediterranean. Collaborations such as this seek to promote dance programming in the region and bolster exchanges between cultural festivals and venues in the Mediterranean.
Sara El Berjawi, Lebanon / performer with Clown Me In
The grant enables Sara El Berjawi and fellow members of the Clown Me In company to travel from Lebanon to Spain to take part in La Mercè, an annual street festival that focuses on the culture of the Mediterranean region. For this occasion eight performers from Clown Me In will present a clown theater performance highlighting such basic themes as love, peace and respect within contexts of crucial social and environmental issues.
Sameh Khalil Al Halwani, Egypt / plastic artist
The grant enables Sameh to travel from Egypt to Lebanon to take part in an artistic field study to discover neglected public spaces in Beirut and to help activate a collaborative communal process to convert them into community art spaces accessible to all. He will work together with the Nahnoo association and its team of volunteers in creating a database, forging relations with local communities and negotiating with landlords of neglected premises preparatory to presenting them to the local communities. Projects of this nature underscore the importance of engaging the community in the process of developing a culturally rich and innovative society.
Samia Kadrine, Algeria / Archaeologist
Samia was awarded the grant to travel from Algeria to Japan to attend a conference and trainings organized by the International Council of Museums (ICOM). Samia is a member of ICOM and her participation in the conference will help her acquire new knowledge and skills in preserving cultural heritage.
Hussein Khaddour, Syria / dancer and choreographer
The grant enables Hussein to travel from Syria to Austria to take part in a training workshop held in the framework of the Vienna International Dance Festival. His participation in this workshop will be an opportunity for him to exchange ideas and expertise and to acquire further practical and applied training which he will then put to work into developing his career in dance theater, producing works that convey fresh ideas to audiences in Syria and elsewhere, and organizing workshops in this field in Syria.
Shaymaa Elbess, Palestine / visual artist and researcher
Shaymaa obtained the grant to travel from Palestine to Morocco to take part as facilitator and coordinator for a workshop on science fiction writing. She developed the idea for this workshop together with Callum Copley (a sci-fi writer, researcher and book designer from the UK) and Faiq Mari (a lecturer in architecture at the University of Birzeit, Palestine). The workshop will be held at the LE18 cultural center and the texts emerging from this project will be presented in March 2020 in collaboration with Dar Bellarj.
Mohamed Shafik Abdalla, Egypt / movement theater director and musician
Mohamed received this grant to travel from Egypt to Lebanon to take part in the Nehna wel Amar wel Jiran (Us, the Moon and the Neighbors) festival organized by the Collectif Kahraba. Mohamed will take part as a dancer in the dance theater performance, “The Weaker of the Two.” He will also work with Collectif Kahraba, the Skappa company from France and the One-Hand company to develop the research and complete the third stage in the production of a new performance.
Ahmad Ghossein, Lebanon / visual artist and performer
The grant enables Ahmad Ghossein to travel from Lebanon to Brazil to take part in an artistic residency and complete the production of his latest dance performance work in collaboration with a group of Brazilian artists, dancers and musicians. The work will be presented at the opening of the Sao Paulo Biennale 2019.
Mostepha Amine Lehchili, Algeria / songwriter and singer
The grant enables Mostepha to travel from Algeria to Johannesburg, South Africa, to participate in an artistic residency as part of a collaborative art project and to engage in a performance tour with the guitarist Mpumelelo Mcata from the BLK JKS band. The purpose of the residency is to produce new compositions in collaboration with local musicians and record an album.
The jury members for this round were:
Abderrahmane Lahy, Mauritania/ Film and Cultural Manager;
Alma Salem, Syria/ Founder of the freedom museum, Independent Curator and Cultural Consultant;
Mohamed El Ghawy, Egypt/ Founder and Artistic Director of AFCA for Arts and Culture.
The Wijhat program, launched in July 2018, aims to promote the arts and culture from the Arab region, both regionally and internationally, by supporting the regional or international travels of artists and cultural actors from the region. The program offers artists the opportunity to take part in cultural events and activities and present their work to diverse audiences in wider regional and/or international contexts, to exchange knowledge and expertise with peers, and/or to build their professional capacities.
