Despite the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent closure of public spaces, airports and cultural centers and the suspension of artistic and cultural activities, Culture Resource decided to continue to accept applications for the second round of Wijhat as scheduled so that mobility grants would be available for artists and cultural actors as soon as airports and artistic and cultural spaces reopen.
In this context, we are pleased to announce the grantees of the second round of the Wijhat program for 2020.
The Wijhat team received 34 applications for this round (25 for international travel and 9 for regional travel) from Algeria, Palestine, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Tunisia. The jury selected 6 grantees, 5 for international travel and one for regional travel.
Grantees:
Nada Riyadh, Egypt / Film Director
Route: Egypt → France
Travel Plan: Nada Riyadh was selected to participate in the Moulin d’Andé-CECI artistic residency after her short film, The Trap, was selected to be screened as an official entry in the Semaine de la Critique competition during the Cannes Film Festival 2019. The residency program organizes workshops conducted by internationally reputed professionals with the purpose of guiding laureates of the competition through the development of their first feature film.
Rami Magharbeh, Syria / Director of “Douzan Art and Culture”
Route: Turkey → Lebanon
Travel Plan: Rami Magharbeh will take part in the Atelier for Arts and Production Managers training program as a representative of the Douzan Art and Culture association with the purpose of acquiring the expertise needed to organize the association’s arts and culture festivals. When he completes the training, Rami will develop a concept for a festival project, source funding for it and bring it to fruition, thereby practically applying the skills he acquired during the training.
Karim Kattan, Palestine / Writer
Route: Palestine → Japan
Travel Plan: Karim Kattan will participate in an artistic residency in order to complete his novel, Love Trip. This opportunity will enable him to acquire greater familiarity with the oriental culture in the Kobe and Kyoto region, which is where his novel is set. The novel sheds light on certain parallels between Japan and Palestine, especially as it relates to migration to Kobe port in the 1930s.
Alaa Minawi, Palestine / Visual Artist
Route: Netherlands → Lebanon
Travel Plan: Alaa Minai will take part in an artistic residency program at the Hammana Artist House where he will develop the Arabic edition of his artistic project, “2048 – Identity in dissolution” and rework the dramaturgy for the performative installation. The residency will conclude with a public presentation of the new edition of this work at the Hammana Artist House for three days, followed by another presentation at Zico House in Beirut.
Iyad Staiti, Palestine / Executive Director of Al Kamandjati
Route: Palestine → Lebanon
Travel Plan: Iyad Staiti will participate in organizing intensive music workshops that will culminate in a large concert at Al Madina Theater in Beirut. The performance will bring together music students from Al Kamandjati and Beit Atfal Assumoud, their professors and professional Palestinian musicians. The proceeds from the concert will go to the Musical Scholarship Program for music students from the Shatila and Burj Barajneh refugee camps in Lebanon. The fund supports the tuition expenses and the costs of instruments for about 65 music students.
Nashwa Matouk, Egypt / Costume Designer for Theater and Film
Route: Egypt → Spain
Travel Plan: Nashwa Matouk will participate in a two-month artistic residency in Can Serrat Arts, Barcelona. She will be working on an artistic project inspired by Islamic architecture, with a particular focus on arabesque design, as exemplified in wooden latticework (i.e. mashrabiya windows), and how its constituent elements can be translated visually into a costume that could be worn in a live dance performance.
Jury Members
Nedjma Hadj Benchelabi, Algeria / Curator, dramaturge & program coordinator of Mahmoud Darwish Chair at Bozar, Brussels;
Omar Abi Azar, Lebanon / Theater director with Zoukak Theater Company;
Awadh Al-Hamzani, Saudi Arabia / Photographer & filmmaker
The Wijhat program aims to promote the arts and culture from the Arab region, both regionally and internationally, by supporting the regional or international travels of artists and cultural actors from this region so as to facilitate their participation in cultural events and activities that enable them to present their work to diverse audiences in wider regional and/or international contexts, to exchange knowledge and expertise with peers, to build their professional capacities or to develop an artistic project.
