The second workshop of the sixth round of the Abbara program, which aims to support and enable independent cultural and artistic organizations and initiatives in the Arab region, took place on 21-25 March at the Mohammad and Mahera Abu Ghazaleh (MMAG) Foundation in Amman, Jordan. The workshop focused on themes related to communications strategies and digital security such as cybersecurity and modern digital language production, the contemporary cultural ecosystem and how to develop and grow in it, as well as the most salient concepts and types of solidarity, partnerships and networking.
The workshop marked the first face-to-face meeting for the 11 participant organizations in this round, which are from Jordan, Tunisia, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Morocco and Egypt. Two representatives from each took part in the training sessions which were facilitated by the communications experts Naim Rammal and Shady Assaad, the cultural policies and management expert Dr. Milena Dragićević Šešić, and the internet policies researcher and trainer Nadine Moawad.
The last day of the workshop featured a panel discussion on solidarity, partnerships, networking and funding constraints in the framework of cultural alliances. The panelists were the cultural activist, writer, researcher and translator Serene Huleileh; theater director and cultural manager Raed Asfour; and the novelist and cultural journalist Ma’an Abu Taleb.
The meeting also included a light art exhibit by visual artists from Jordan and Tunisia. The exhibit was the product of a workshop organized by MedeArts (Jordan) and INTERFERENCE (Tunisia), whereby MedeArts hosted 5 artists and art producers from Tunisia to create artistic works in collaboration with 8 of their peers from Jordan. This activity was part of the working visits (placements), supported by Abbara program’s technical assistance component which aims to strengthen collaboration and networking between participant organizations.
