Culture Resource seeks to fulfil its mission to support artists from the Arab region and cultural organisations and the cultural sector throughout the region with a range of services and programs. These activities include support for independent artists to create new work and to travel and tour these works, capacity building and training programs and publications in Arabic aimed at developing cultural managers and organisations, cultural policy research, support for artists at risk, and supporting the sustainability of cultural industries in the region, without undermining the value of culture as a public good and a basic human right.
Mimeta has supported the organisation's work since 2011, and given the growth of Mawred, has shifted its support towards new and promising initiatives to further develop the organisation’s work.
A major component of the organisation’s work supported by Mimeta is its ‘Stand for Art’ programme, which focuses on supporting artists at risk in various ways. The support is tailored to the specific circumstances of the artist and as far as possible allows the artist at risk to remain in the region.
Of the artists supported in 2022 and 2023, 66 % of those supported and/or relocated remained in the region during their grant period, and 63% remained in the region after the conclusion of their grant period.
Out of 235 applicants in 2023, 19 artists and cultural actors from Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen received support from Stand for Art (SfA)’s emergency fund component.
Aside from the main emergency fund, Mawred launched in partnership with Action for Hope an exceptional emergency initiative to support Sudanese artists in Sudan in June. An independent jury consisting of 3 Sudanese artists and cultural actors evaluated the 197 received applications. The CR team supported 37 artists who sought refuge outside Sudan with an amount of EUR 2,000, while Action for Hope supported artists who were displaced to safe cities inside Sudan.
Highlighting the position of these organisations in the Arab artists at risk sector, Mawred, Aflamuna and Ettijahat were chosen to collaborate on an Arabic edition of ARC’s (Artist at Risk Connection) safety guide for artists. This guide is an important document and is meant to inform artists at risk about their opportunities for assistance in various regions.
Regarding the work on the protection network, the team conducted in collaboration with a panel of experts a workshop on the protection of artists and cultural actors in June at the Mohammad and Mahera Abu Ghazaleh Foundation (MMAG) in Amman, Jordan. 8 out of 11 selected organisations joined the workshop which focused on 3 main themes: the legal framework of cultural rights and the protection of artists and cultural actors in the Arab region; self-care and care of others; and peer coaching.
Participants presented practical cases related to the protection of artists and cultural actors at risk in various Arab countries, and one visiting artist was invited to share his personal experience as an artist at risk. Additionally, a panel discussion was held online with the UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights. The protection network has promising results so far in terms of the relations built within it, and the streamlining of processes of reallocating and protecting artists, thus the increased efficiency in coordinating cases requesting emergency grants and residency spaces.
