The Lebanon Solidarity Fund (LSF), jointly launched by Culture Resource and the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture – AFAC, has announced the imminent launch of a new round of support to assist arts and culture institutions and spaces in Lebanon. The call for submissions, set to open on January 15, 2021, will cater to institutions as well as spaces (galleries, bookstores, libraries, etc.) responding to their urgent needs as well as their mid-to-long-term requirements for continuity and viability.

The fund will extend support in three main areas: 

  • Reconstruction: repairs of physical damage caused by the Beirut August 4 port blast to their spaces and/or replacement of equipment, rehabilitation and rethinking of space and premises, as well as the protection and preservation of archives and collections;
  • Institutional: sustaining team members and spaces (salaries and rent), purchasing essential equipment, and covering basic expenses;
  • Programmatic: conducting artistic and cultural programming in connection with the context, vision and needs of the institution/space; projects that question the old ways and dare to think and produce differently, contributing to returning vitality to cultural and public spaces and engaging both cultural workers and communities. Collaborations across regions and/or disciplines are highly encouraged.

Applying institutions and spaces may submit to up to two areas of support, totalling a maximal support amount of USD 70,000 per entity. 

The applications for this new round of support, as well as complete guidelines and eligibility criteria will be available in both English and Arabic on the AFAC and Culture Resource websites from January 15 to February 5, 2021.

The Lebanon Solidarity Fund, a first joint program by Culture Resource and AFAC, was launched in May 2020 and initially supported 23 arts and culture structures in Lebanon affected by the country’s economic collapse. The Fund was further extended, following the Beirut port blast of August 4, 2020, to support 208 arts and culture practitioners in Beirut.