What is Stand for Art?
Stand for Art supports artists and cultural actors in the Arab region who are at risk. At risk means that they are threatened and in physical danger because of their artistic output or cultural activities or that they are in grave peril due to conditions in their environment (such as war or civil strife or public health emergencies and environmental disasters). Culture Resource launched this program in 2016 after conducting a study of the risks facing artists and cultural actors in this region and the types of support available to them locally and internationally.
Program goals
This program aims to support the physical and mental wellbeing of artists and cultural actors in the Arab region and to safeguard their inalienable rights to free speech and creative freedom. Towards this end, it works to secure their right to live and work in a safe environment that upholds their dignity and ensures their ability to pursue their artistic and cultural activities.
Who is this program for?
- Artists or cultural actors who are in physical danger because of their artistic or cultural expression or production
- Artists or cultural actors who, regardless of their artistic and cultural activities, are in peril or who are seeking asylum due to sociopolitical violence, warfare, political instability, displacement or environmental disasters and public health emergencies.
- Artists or cultural actors who are unable to sustain their artistic and cultural activities due to precarious economic, psychological, environmental, health or legal circumstances.
Forms of support
1. The Emergency Fund, which covers the following types of financial support:
- Living expenses (including accommodation expenses) in any country in Arab region or abroad for up to six months
- Airfare (round trip) to any country in the Arab region or abroad and related travel expenses (internal transportation expenses, visa costs, etc.).
- Legal support (expenses for professional legal advice or hiring lawyers).
- Other types of support that require expenditures (medical or psychiatrist fees, enrollment fees for a skills development program, etc.)
2. Non-monetary support:
- Putting beneficiaries in touch with short term artistic residencies in the Arab region or abroad so as to guarantee them a temporary safe haven where they can live and work, or putting them in touch with organizations that offer residencies so that they (beneficiaries) can apply themselves.
- Putting beneficiaries in contact with international organizations that support artists at risk or that offer them temporary residency in a host country. Backing their applications to these organizations as well as to rights advocacy organizations and lawyers for free legal support and advice.
Eligibility criteria
- The applicant must originate from an Arab country regardless of ethnicity and citizenship status or whether they are currently residing in the Arab region or abroad;
- The applicant must be an artist or a cultural actor;
- The applicant must be in peril or face a tangible and verifiable threat.
How to apply
- Send an email to [email protected] explaining your case.
- Once the program team ascertains that you meet the eligibility criteria, they will send you an application form which should be filled out in Arabic only.
- Prepare the required supporting documents (as explained in the application form) and include them with the form as attachments.
Please note:
- The application form will not be sent to applicants who do not meet all the eligibility criteria.
- Applications that do not include the required supporting documents and attachments will not be considered further.
The selection process
- The program team evaluates the request for meeting the eligibility criteria and sends the applicant the program’s application form to be filled,
- Once the program team receives the complete application form with supporting documents and links, they evaluate the information by inquiring with individuals or organizations that know the artist or cultural actor in question and that can shed light on the crisis or confirm the applicant’s description of it,
- Once the accuracy of the information contained in the application is verified, the program team and the program’s advisory board will determine the type of support that is commensurate with the severity and urgency of the case.
- The program team will then notify the applicant whether or not he/she has been accepted. If accepted, the applicant will be informed of the type of support that the program will provide.
- After the applicant agrees to the proposed support, an agreement is signed between Culture Resource and the beneficiary.
The names of the grantees will remain confidential in respect to their privacy.
For your inquiries, please contact the program’s team: [email protected]
Culture Resource has introduced an exceptional component to its Stand for Art program which supports artists and cultural actors from the Arab region who are in danger or at risk because of their artistic output or cultural activities or because of circumstances in their environment, whether in their home countries or abroad, that threaten their security and wellbeing. The new component expands the scope of the program to cover artists, cultural actors and technicians who have suffered hardship due to the unusual circumstances precipitated by the Covid-19 pandemic, above all by the cancellation of the cultural and artistic activities and the closure of the spaces that host and/or organize them.
Who is it for?
This exceptional component is designed for those artists and cultural actors and technicians who have been the most severely harmed by the repercussions of the pandemic. This category includes individuals who receive no support from a professional syndicate, work in the informal artistic sector, depend on irregular incomes, have families to support, are elderly or in fragile health, or have been forced to be away from their homes.
Eligibility criteria
- The applicant must originate from an Arab country regardless of ethnicity and citizenship status or whether they are currently residing in the Arab region or abroad;
- The applicant must be an artist, technician in the independent cultural sector or a cultural actor;
- The circumstances or conditions that the applicant describes must be verifiable.
How to apply?
- The artist, cultural actor, or technician sends an email describing the nature of the hardship they are experiencing as a consequence of the pandemic to [email protected];
- After evaluating the request for meeting the eligibility criteria, the program team sends the applicant an application form to be completed in Arabic only;
- When submitting the application, the applicant should attach all supporting documents mentioned in the form.
Selection process
The program team together with a three-member jury of experienced cultural actors regularly examine the submissions and evaluate the extent to which the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic have been detrimental to the applicants’ right to a dignified life. Priority is given to the individuals most affected by the pandemic. The amount of support is determined in accordance with the applicants’ needs, the cost of living in their country of residence and the program budget.
The names of the grantees will remain confidential in respect to their privacy.
How do I apply to the Stand for Art program?
In order to receive support from the Stand for Art program, the first step is to send an email to [email protected], explaining the nature of the danger or threat you’re facing. The program team will ascertain that you meet the eligibility criteria and then send you the application form.
Is this support available to journalists or photojournalists?
The program does not support journalists or photojournalists unless the journalist or photographer works in cultural or artistic journalism and can prove this with links to published articles or photographs.
Does the program support artists or cultural actors who are not at risk?
The program does not support artists and cultural actors who are not at risk. However, as an exception due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the program will support artists, cultural actors and technicians who may not be in immediate danger but whose ability to continue work or earn a livelihood has been jeopardised by the pandemic. Please check out Culture Resource’s other programs to learn about the other support opportunities that our organization offers.
Does the program offer support to artistic and cultural organizations at risk of closure or bankruptcy due to political or economic pressures in the country in which they operate?
No, the program targets individuals only, regardless of whether they belong to an organization or work independently. Please check out Culture Resource’s other programs to learn about the various support opportunities that our organization offers to cultural and artistic organizations.
Does the program support only the individual artist or cultural actor or does it also cover his family members?
The support is offered only to the individual artist or cultural actor, but it takes into consideration his/her family circumstances and the number of people he/she supports.
How much financial support does the program offer?
There are no preset figures. Rather, the amount is determined in each individual case by a number of clear criteria such as the severity of the risk, the urgency of the case, the program’s budget, and living costs in the country of residence or in the host country.
Does the program help with obtaining entry visas to the host country?
The program does not intervene with embassies or consulates to secure entry visas. However, once an artist’s or cultural actor’s application has been accepted and the agreement with Culture Resource is signed, the program can provide a letter, if needed, certifying that it will support him/her.
Does the program help with obtaining permanent or temporary residency in a host country?
The program can provide a recommendation letter or back artists’ or cultural actors’ applications to international organizations involved in supporting artists at risk or that offer temporary residencies. However, the program does not submit applications to such organizations on behalf of the artists or cultural actors.