Culture Resource is pleased to announce the Wijhat grantees of the first round of 2020. The program received 66 applications from Algeria, Palestine, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen. The jury selected 10 grantees, 6 for international travels and 4 for travels within the Arab region.
Grantees:
Haroun Ayari, Tunisia/ Dance instructor
The Wijhat grant enables Haroun to travel from Tunisia to Palestine to stage a dance performance in the Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival and to attend a workshop and the Dance and Society Conference organized by the festival. Haroun’s participation in this event helps introduce Palestinian audiences to artistic production in Tunisia, and to open avenues for exchange and cooperation with contemporary dance companies in Palestine.
Albaqer Jafeer, Iraq/ Film Director
Albaqer received the Wijhat grant to travel from Iraq to Egypt for a three-month artistic residency to complete the post-production of his fictional documentary, “Take me to the Movies” which will be screened at the end of his residency. This participation will help foster cultural cooperation between Iraq and Egypt.
Nargis Obad, Yemen/ Theater director
The grant enables Nargis to take part in the first Djerba International Cinema and Theater Festival in Tunisia in which she will stage her play “Qamar” (Moon) and participate in workshops and seminars that will lead to development of a short film that will be screened at the end of the workshop.
Hanin Tarek, Egypt/ dancer with the Nafaq dance ensemble
Hanin and the Nafaq dance ensemble received the Wijhat grant in order to perform at the Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival and take part in the workshops and the Dance and Society Conference organized by the festival. This participation contributes to fostering dialogue and developing ideas with other companies and to building artistic and cultural bridges.
Hala Abu Shady, Egypt/ Professor at the Higher Institute for Applied Arts
Hala received the grant in order to travel from Egypt to Austria for an arts residency with AIR – ARTIST IN RESIDENCE Niederösterreich, an international cultural exchange program that will enable her to produce and exhibit a complete multimedia art project and take part in international exhibits, seminars, artistic discussions and workshops in Krems and Vienna.
Mohamed Hussein Abdulla, Iraq/ Visual artist
The Wijhat grant enables Mohamed to take part in an arts residency in Taiwan where he will develop concepts and forms of models displayed in open and closed spaces. His project aims to invite people to discover how their bodies move and to play the roles of both artist/composer and spectator in the creation of new works displayed in unconventional ways and in different types of places. He will also present a lecture and conduct a participatory workshop.
Isra Mohamed Abdulmawgod Ghazali, Egypt/ interior and fashion designer
Isra received the grant in order to travel from Egypt to Nepal, Taiwan and Hong Kong to participate in a theater performance with 10 artists from 8 different Asian countries. In addition to performing, she will attend a workshop on writing and staging. Once production is complete, the performance will tour several towns and cities in Taiwan, Nepal and Hong Kong.
Tarek Yamani, Lebanon/ Composer and pianist
The Tarek Yamani Trio received the grant so that they could travel from Lebanon to South Korea to take part in the Daegu International Jazz Festival where they will present their “Lissan Al Tarab” project and conduct a jazz workshop for Korean musicians.
Amany Atef, Egypt/ Artist, dancer and performer
The grant enables Amany to take part in an arts residency program in Ghana for multi-disciplinary artists in the framework of the Chale Wote Street Art Festival. She will participate in a research and then present performances she developed during her residency in public spaces, such as school yards and alternative art spaces.
Asma Chiboub, Tunisia/ Film producer
The grant enables Asma to travel from Tunisia to Ireland, Luxembourg and Croatia to participate in the EAVE Producers Workshop, which targets producers in the film and television industries who wish to begin to operate on a European wide basis by increasing their knowledge of producing and co-producing in Europe and by building up a pan European professional network. Asma will take part in the workshop as a producer of the feature length film in progress, “Tunis-Djerba” directed by Amel Guellaty, in order to work on the final version of the project to be able to proceed to production.
Jury members:
Huda Abuzeid, Libya/ TV film producer
Najwa Kandakgi, Jordan/ Theater director
Qasim Haddad, Bahrain/ Poet
The Wijhat program 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 this region so as to facilitate their participation in cultural events and activities that enable them to present their work to diverse audiences in wider regional and/or international contexts, to exchange knowledge and expertise with peers, to build their professional capacities or to develop an artistic project.
