Solidarity with Beirut

In response to the devastation in Beirut, we are collecting solidarity initiatives to help the arts and culture scene in Beirut and Lebanon in this current crisis. This page will be updated regularly.

Please send any initiatives you wish you share to info@thefestivalacademy.eu.

Nahzun Ealayk Bayrut.

The Lebanon Solidarity Fund has announced the opening of the call for submissions in support of arts and culture institutions and spaces. It will respond to their urgent needs as well as their mid-to-long-term requirements for viability, providing institutional support, sustaining team members and spaces (salaries and rent), and covering basic expenses. Support will be extended at a maximum of USD 70,000 per grant. 

The call for submissions will be open until 12 February 2021, at 17:00 Beirut time. Full details can be found on the program page .

Deadline to apply: December 20, 2020

Student Subsidies (for Lebanon-based arts students only)

Supported by “Fund the Arts in Beirut”

In response to the explosion of August 4, Mophradat launched a campaign to “Fund the Arts in Beirut,” and one of the priorities they’ve chosen is to help students cross the line from academia into becoming active practitioners who will contribute to building the country’s art scene anew.

Mophradat is launching this open call to support graduating students who are working on final projects. This program will offer approximately thirty Lebanon-based students in their final year a grant of $500USD to use towards accessing some tools, materials, or other supplies that they need to continue their work.

Find out more about it here.

In Support of the Film and TV Community in Lebanon

The AFAC - Netflix Hardship Fund is an emergency relief fund that aims to support the film and TV community in Lebanon, primarily below-the-line crew, craftspeople, and freelancers who are facing economic hardship resulting from the disruption of normal life, halts in productions, and little to no opportunities in the industry.

Amounting to half a million dollars, the fund will provide financial support in the form of individual grants of $2000 each.

Calls are now open until November 9, 2020 at 17:00 Beirut time. Submissions can be directed here. 

"We stopped asking what performance is, we started to question what performance isn’t."

lab-Room is an online virtual space, where new Performing Arts experiments are running through a video performance streaming content program. It is addressed to Arab artists to explore new narratives for their practices through a 5 to 10 minutes video performance.

lab-Room will reinforce embracing the digital world as an alternative place for sharing performing arts work; it will empower and liberate artists, avoid censorship, create a new mode of artistic production, and interaction with audiences. 

To help in the process of shaping the lab-Room, fill out this survey.

To find out more about Minwal Theatre Company, click here.

Theatre de la Ville and Oslo World present a solidarity concert in Paris on October 4th, with Yasmine Hamdan, Bachar Mar-Khalifé and Haïg Sarikouyoumijan. The recordings from the concert in Paris will play a central part in the opening concert of Oslo World on October 27th. All proceeds from the concert will go to a fund created by Theatre de la Ville, Oslo World, Beirut & Beyond International and Tunefork Studios, that aims to strengthen the Lebanese music scene, in difficult times.

You can donate to their initiative by clicking here.

UNESCO will host three virtual ResiliArt debates in the framework of its action #ForBeirut to mobilize support for the recovery of the Lebanese capital. The activities are scheduled for 10, 17 and 24 September.

Find out more on their website.

Tunefork took it upon themselves to contact musicians, producers and sound engineers living in the blast area and to inventory all music gear, instruments and recording equipment that was destroyed. The damage so far adds up to USD 38,255 (the extensive list of damaged gear is available upon request).

All donations will be managed by the studio and divided proportionally between those affected.

Find out more on their dedicated webpage.

Following the Beirut blast, the MoMA is sharing reflections from Lebanese artists and much more in their MoMA magazine. 

Find out more on their Instagram and website.

 Zoukak Theatre Company is calling for support!

Following the explosion, their studio, opened in 2008 as a space for practical exchange and critical thinking has been seriously damaged.

Find out more and donate here.

Also, Zoukak Cultural Association launches "To BEirut”, a grant for practitioners in the performing arts, funded by Sundance Institute. This initiative is a modest contribution, aiming to support the existence and sustainability of the performing arts sector in Lebanon, through direct monetary support to artists and practitioners who were affected on the personal and professional level by the events and the crises of the past year in addition to the devastating 4th of August Beirut port explosion.

Find out more and apply here!

Beirut DC launched the second round of their relief fund for filmmakers and film workers with the support of Ford Foundation, Doc Society and International Media Support.

To learn more and apply: beirutdc.org/beirut-relief-fund

This group of theater practitioners in Lebanon who have come together in a state of emergency after the explosion in Beirut's port is offering help to theatre practitioner or student or to any theatre practitioner residing and working in Lebanon and who have been affected by the Beirut explosion. 

They will also host a "no show tonight" event for which they invite you to pick up tickets for a play that cannot take place. A play that does not exist. The sums collected will be paid in priority to support artists and practitioners of the theatrical world in Beirut.

Have a look at their Facebook page. 

The Clown Me In theatre company has launched an online crowdfunding platform where they are giving money straight to the victims and/or sending people to fix their houses as well as identifying artists who are affected and helping. Learn more on and contribute to the campaign here.  
In response to Beirut's devastation, one of their artists offered 10 prints of her painting in order to raise funds. Find out more here. 

The NGO that works activating culture in the marginalised areas of Lebanon is launching an online campaign for drawings and photos related to what happened in Beirut. 

Find out more here and on their Facebook page.

The Mophradat international non-profit association set up this fund to gather resources for what’s to come in Beirut. They are committed to distributing the funds in transparent and flexible ways, prioritizing those already disadvantaged, and those who influence in a thoughtful manner the community around them. 

For more information, you can email Krystel Khoury: krystel@mophradat.org. 

http://mophradat.org/beirut-art-fund/

A fundraising campaign for the Arts and Culture Community in Beirut. The raised funds will be fully channeled to support affected arts and culture organizations and spaces based on identification of urgent needs (emergency reconstruction of premises, temporary relocation rentals, housing and transfer of invaluable collections, repair and/or replacement of equipment). The fund will also support individual artists who lost their homes, instruments and equipment and who need to fix them or replace the equipment/relocate to new homes or workspaces in order to continue.

https://www.givingloop.org/afac

https://www.arabculturefund.org/

https://mawred.org/?lang=en

For anonymous donations, contact: solidarityfund@mawred.org or solidarityfund@arabculturefund.org.

The Lebanese Food Bank is a charity organisation whose mission is to fight and overcome hunger by developing effective Feeding Programs to eliminate hunger.

https://lebanesefoodbank.org/

The Lebanese Red Cross Society is led by volunteers, whose mission is to provide relief to victims of natural and human disasters, and help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies, and to mitigate the suffering of the most vulnerable.

http://www.redcross.org.lb/

Impact Lebanon is a non-profit organisation that brings the community together to pursue initiatives that deliver impact for Lebanon. It was set up to make activism and volunteering accessible, relevant and sustainable for the Lebanese diaspora. 

https://www.impactlebanon.org/

The Arts Development Network in cities and governorates in Jordan, MedeArts, is launching its For Beirut campaign including  an art exhibition to be held in Amman (28-29 August 2020) and Irbid (3-4-5 September 2020), in which they will contribute the full amount of money obtained to support Beirut.

More info can be found here.