The Lebanon Solidarity Fund, managed jointly by Culture Resource and the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture – AFAC, has launched an emergency and exceptional support initiative catering to practitioners in the arts and culture sector in Beirut, who were directly affected by the devastating port explosion.

While this initiative builds on previous efforts undertaken by the two regional organizations recently, to support arts and culture structures in Lebanon in the face of the strenuous economic situation, and to support practitioners and artists in the Arab region in light of the challenges posed by the Coronavirus pandemic, the main drive of the present initiative is to preserve some form of cohesion in the sector – in the absence of any role or action by the public sector – that would allow the sector’s members to continue to play their vital role in formulating critical discourses, documentation, questioning, challenging the status-quos, casting light on marginalized narratives, and broaching urgent issues with approaches that reshape our relation with the present and the past, and with politics and the public realm.

This initiative will focus on individuals, including artists, technicians, and practitioners in the cultural and artistic sector who were directly affected by the explosion, whether through injuries, the destruction of their homes, or the loss of their equipment and their workplaces –  through grants that range between $2000 and $5000.

The submission procedure has been simplified through filling this online form. Submissions are accepted until September 9, 2020, at 17:00 Beirut time.

In conjunction with the launch of this support scheme, the fundraising campaign for the Lebanon Solidarity Fund continues to mobilize additional resources that enable us to support cultural and artistic institutions and spaces affected by the blast, in addition to a second round of support catered towards individuals if the needs arise.

More information on the submission guidelines, eligibility criteria and other details related to the initiative here.

*Photo credit: Manu Ferneini