Culture Resource is pleased to announce the grantees of the third round of Wijhat 2024, a program that supports artists and cultural actors through travel grants that enable them to participate in artistic and cultural activities in the Arab region and abroad.
The Wijhat team received 74 applications for this round. Of these, 64 were for international travel and 10 for regional travel. The jury selected 13 projects based on the program’s evaluation criteria, taking into consideration geographical and travel destination diversity.
Grantees
Angela Khalil, Lebanon / Multidisciplinary artist
Destination: Lebanon → Italy
Itinerary: Angela will participate in a 3-month workshop and a training program at the ATELIER Mask Movement Theatre in Italy. This participation aims to enhance her acting and training skills, allowing her to study new theatrical forms that are unpracticed in Lebanon and explore new forms of artistic expression.
Aymen Gharbi, Tunisia / Curator and cultural producer
Destination: Tunisia → UK
Itinerary: Aymen will serve as a curator and organizer for the Light and Media Arts Exhibition at the Shubbak Festival for Contemporary Arab Cultures in the UK. He will collaborate with the local community in London and invite emerging Arab artists to exhibit their works in the UK for the first time.
Faris Ishaq, Palestine / Composer and Nay player
Destination: Palestine → UK
Itinerary: Faris will travel to the UK to participate in a music tour organized by PalMusic, MARSM, and Big Promo. The tour includes five rehearsals and performances, featuring a premiere of the Kham Quartet that received support from Culture Resource’s Production Awards program 2023, a solo Nay Concerto with an Orchestra, and a collaborative performance with the jazz band BEJE.
George Matar, Palestine/ Cultural activist
Destination: Palestine → Spain
Itinerary: George will take part in the Atelier for Young Festival Managers at the Festival Academy, an event bringing together up to 35 young festival curators from all over the world for a 7-day program led by experienced festival leaders, cultural activists, and cross-sector experts. The Atelier facilitates a global conversation about today’s challenges and the role of festivals, art, and culture in addressing them. This event focuses on innovating leadership, gaining new experiences, exploring the essence and impact of festivals in a global context, exchanging expertise, and reflecting on the topics that concern the participants.
Islam Aly, Egypt / Book artist and design lecturer
Destination: Egypt → Japan
Itinerary: Islam is set to participate in the Tokyo Art Book Fair, presenting his hand-printed publications and photographs and leading a workshop on traditional bookbinding techniques. These activities will highlight the intersection of art, literature, and culture. This annual fair, dedicated to unique and innovative art publications, brings together independent publishers, bookstores, and artists, featuring over 350 participants from Japan and beyond.
Laila Adam, Libya / Graphic Designer and visual artist
Destination: Libya → Italy
Itinerary: Laila will participate in an art residency at La Macina di San Cresci in Italy to start working on her project “The Essence of Now” by capturing additional portraits, collecting visual and audio content, and initiating the painting process to define the project’s artistic style.
Maalem Abdelmalek Elkadiri Group represented by Oussama Chtouki, Morocco / Music Band
Destination: Morocco → Spain
Itinerary: The group was invited by the Euro-Arab Foundation for Advanced Studies to organize and facilitate a series of musical activities, including concerts and workshops as part of their project “Music, the Language of Intercultural Dialogue”. This collaboration will provide an opportunity to perform for Spanish audiences and share the rich heritage of Gnawa music of Essaouira city.
Mohammed Subhi Taha Almzin, Lebanon / Illustrator and comic book writer
Destination: Iraq → Egypt
Itinerary: Mohammed will travel to Egypt to participate in the 5th edition of Animatex, Egypt’s biggest animation event. The latter includes professional workshops, master classes, and international film screenings. This will allow Mohammed to develop his animation skills and learn more about character design and digital arts.
Nicolas Haddad, Lebanon / Circus artist
Destination: Lebanon → Sweden, Italy, and the Czech Republic
Itinerary: Nicolas will participate in a training workshop organized by the Caravan Circus Network that aims to cultivate a new generation of social circus trainers. Nicolas will be representing Cirquenciel, a social circus school in Beirut, as the lead trainer. This cultural exchange is considered vital for sustaining this art form, sharing insights into Lebanon’s circus history and its impact, and exchanging expertise that will contribute to enhancing educational tools in the field of social circus.
Noha Essam Khamis, Egypt / Multidisciplinary artist and PhD in art philosophy
Destination: Egypt → Switzerland
Itinerary: Noha will take part in an artistic residency at the Atelier Mondial and the Critical Media Lab in Basel, Switzerland. She will also attend artistic and cultural events, engage in various research projects, and participate in visual exhibitions. As a speaker and researcher in forums and workshops held at these cultural labs, Noha will contribute to the cultural dialogue and present visual and narrative insights into Egypt’s artistic and cultural landscape. She will also receive training on certain artistic techniques alongside other forum participants.
Omar and the Eastern Power represented by Wael Zaky, Egypt and Morocco / Music band
Destination: South Korea → Morocco
Itinerary: The band will travel to Morocco to participate in the Visa for Music Festival, where they will present a music performance and participate in workshops and music marketing programs held alongside the festival. They will also attend meetings with agents from the art and music industries and music news agencies.
Reem Elshorbagy, Egypt/ Museum curator
Destination: Egypt → Greece
Itinerary: Reem will travel to Greece to participate in the International Committee for Education and Cultural Action (CECA) and the International Council of Museums (ICOM) Annual Conference titled “Delicate topics – Challenging audiences”, in collaboration with the Greek Ministry of Culture – Directorate of Archaeological Museums, Exhibitions and Educational Programs and the Benaki Museum. Reem will participate as a speaker, presenting a research paper titled: “The Role of Mobile Museum in Serving the Underserved Populations Especially at the Rural Areas and Remote Places Case Study: Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM)”. She will also deliver a presentation on her research topic, organize a small exhibition using replica artifacts to demonstrate the mobile museum concept and conduct a workshop and educational activities alongside the exhibition. Following the conference, an article on her research topic will be published in the International Council of Museums journal.
Wagas Elsadig, Sudan / Writer and novelist
Destination: Sudan → Egypt
Itinerary: Wagas will travel to Egypt to participate in the Cairo International Book Fair to launch his novel “Bag Theft Days”, published by Dar Al Khan, and to conduct panel discussions on writing and literature. This will allow Wagas to meet readers, gain new insights, promote his other works, and seek other opportunities for showcasing his work.
Jury
Abdo Nawar / Lebanon, Director, independent organizer of artistic and cultural events, university professor, and director of Shams Association
Hamdi Makhlouf / Tunisia, Musician and musicologist
Sara Isaac / Yemen, Film producer, trainer, and filmmaker
*Photo from the participation of “Letters to My Travel Companion” project by Yousra El Gazzar (Egypt) at the art residency at DRAWInternational in France, supported by the Wijhat program 2024.
