Culture Resource is pleased to announce the projects that have been selected to take part in the pilot edition of Culture 3.0, a project that aims to foster confidence among the cultural sector in the Arab region to challenge imposed digital economic models and to support fairer income and labor benefits for artists in current digital economies; it also aims to bring more artists in the region into tech policy, design and debate, to encourage collaboration between techies and the cultural sector, and to imagine, explore and test new models of digital economic organization for artists. The project supports the music, and literary and publishing sectors through a financial support of up to €14,000 in project funding and through providing a space for networking and collective learning by convening the grantees and making connections with relevant resource people and organizations.
The project team received 75 applications, of which 30 were in the music sector, 26 were in the literature sector, and 19 intersected with both sectors. The applications varied in their geographical distribution, whether from within the Arab region or the diaspora. In terms of the applicant entity, 22 applications were submitted by individuals, 35 by organizations, and 18 by initiatives.
The jury selected the following 12 projects to take part in Culture 3.0:
Aratok (Syria / Ireland)
Project: Arab Music Festival 3.0
The Aratok organization’s project involves organizing an online music festival on Web 3.0.
Bluedar (Syria / Germany)
Project: Mawjat
Bluedar’s “Mawjat” project focuses on research aimed at developing the music industry.
Kotobli (Lebanon)
Project: Daleel Al-Nashirin
The Kotobli project aims to decentralize e-publishing and to open access to publishing houses that have no online presence.
Mohamed Ashraf (Egypt / Germany)
Project: LAM
This is a research project aimed at fostering alliance-building and incorporating literature into the digital economy.
Mozayek (Syria)
Project: Mozayek App
The Mozayek initiative’s project is to design an app that musicians and others can use to learn music.
Sadaa Sound Syndicate (Syria / diaspora)
Project: DAS (Decentralized Autonomous Syndicate)
Sadaa Sound Syndicate is a decentralized, self-governing syndicate whose project is based on research, training and resource sharing in music.
Sarah Kuhail (Palestine)
Project: From music genres to mood boards
This project researches music models and the digital music industry market in the capitalist system with an eye to exploring alternative models, some of which may already be in the process of development.
Sefsafa Publishing & Culture (Egypt)
Project: Sefsafa electronic publications
The Sefsafa project seeks to develop e-publishing programming applications for Sefsafa writers and other writers.
Simsara Music (Egypt)
Project: Mous DAO
Simsara Music’s project offers training and capacity-building for musicians to equip them to work in the digital space and achieve greater economic benefits.
Tika Tex (Libya / Tunisia)
Project: Sing here (temporary title)
The purpose of the Tika Tex project is to provide a digital platform for musicians in Libya and elsewhere in the region.
Waraq (Lebanon)
Project: Waraq Digital Platform
Waraq’ project is to conceive models for a digital platform dedicated to literature and music.
Wonder Cabinet (Palestine)
Project: The Wonder Sandbox
The aim of the Wonder Cabinet’s project is to design models for the manufacture of digital games on literature and music.
Jury:
Ranwa Yehia (Egypt/Lebanon): Ranwa is a cultural actor and founding member of the Arab Digital Expression Foundation (ADEF) which was launched in 2005 to develop an alternative methodology for teaching, learning and producing Arab knowledge that engages the concepts and tools of free resources in a collaborative manner among Arab techies, artists and researchers.
Shiran Ben Abderrazak (Tunisia): A cultural engineer with ten years of experience in managing diverse projects and organizations involved in the cultural and creative economy in Tunisia, Shiran is currently working on projects related to Web3. He is also the co-founder of a digital art gallery that operates with cryptocurrency and NFT, and he authors a podcast dedicated to contemporary artistic creativity in Africa.
Majd Al-Shihabi (Palestine/Lebanon): Majd Al-Shihabi is a technologist and urban planner. He works with archives to activate them in service to their communities, by integrating open methodologies to their infrastructures. He is the co-founder of Palestine Open Maps, and is currently a PhD student at the University of Toronto.
