Culture Resource is pleased to announce that Helena Nassif has joined the team as the new Executive Director. Helena was selected by a committee chosen from members of Culture Resource’s Artistic Board. The committee reviewed all applications and conducted the interviews based on a set of criteria, including a deep knowledge and understanding of the cultural sector in the Arab region and the ability to analyze and respond to the exceptional circumstances taking place in the region.

Helena Nassif studied public health, media and journalism in Beirut, Aarhus, Amsterdam, and Swansea. She holds a Ph.D. in Media and Cultural Studies from University of Westminster (London), with research focused on the construction and reception of popular cultural, moral and spatial telos. She was a visiting fellow researcher at the University of Marburg and at the Orient Institute in Beirut, working on a book project that explores the role of memory in mass and oppositional cultures in the Arab East. Helena’s multi-disciplinary research and career in media and culture extend to the non-governmental sector, the aid industry, television and documentary film production, program coordination and evaluation, training and education, and consultancy. Her work is driven by the desire to understand the impact of the arts and culture in society, and to contribute to its vital role in community building and social change.

Helena’s term officially starts in September 2017.