Cultural sector and initiatives through art to help Beirut 07/08/2020 - ongoing

NS

There are not enough words to describe what has happened in Beirut. The loss of life and the missing is unbelievably heartbreaking.
Many who have survived sadly have family members, friends or acquaintances who have not, or have been hurt-as do many from the diaspora.
The infrastructural damage is beyond anything the country has seen-even throughout its war(s).
Rebuilding Beirut started straightaway by the one entity that has kept the country going: its civil society. They have through the years kept the country’s roots watered, cultivating the seeds of hope and building it to shine through its creativity, culture, or entrepreneurial skills. And now once more, they have gathered broom in hand to clean up the rubble and help each other out through in-kind donations or volunteering, and if abroad come together through initiatives and donating money.
Amongst the thorns that people in the Lebanon are faced with, it’s heartwarming for everyone in or out of the country to see roses that are the civil society bloom together for the Lebanon that the Lebanese have always wanted and deserved.
I've posted much on of the devastation and asked how this was allowed to happen. People deserve answers!
This here is about how the cultural sector are creating initiatives to help or raise money for Beirut.
We have been posting about this and will keep on posting, it is important that what the creative voices in Beirut have endured is remembered. As should and will the rebuilding of their studios or hubs. The creative sector have suffered much infrastructural damage, If you can donate and help please do, below in alphabetical order are some links to do so or to help in other ways. If you can’t, then please talk about the arts from Lebanon, it’s a country filled with talent!


To donate and help creatives in Beirut:

 

The Arab Image Foundation is an organisation that preserves photography. A cultural foundation for documentation and preservation.
Three of the team and board members had physical injuries from the devastation. We wish them all heartily a speedy recovery.
The devastation has left the AIF offices with much damage. They are committed to rebuild and recover the art photography. 

If you can help with in-kind donations, in the form of computers, hard discs, archival, and more then you can email them at [email protected]
For immediate support please donate to their platform, more info and link here https://stories.arabimagefoundation.org/issue-202002 

and link in their bio @arabimagefoundation


Art photography by @myriamboulos part of print sale For the Love of Beirut 

Link to purchase: https://gulfphotoplus.com/fortheloveofbeirut

 All donations from print sale to help Beirut wll be going to @lebaneseredcross 

Check @gulfphotoplus @ruwaspace @beirutcenterofphotography  for more info and for full list of artists

Repost @myriamboulos :100% OF THE PROCEEDS WILL BE DONATED TO THE LEBANESE REDCROSS.
Myself and 60 other photographers have come together to raise funds for Beirut. The initiative is led by @ruwaspace and @gulfphotoplus in partnership with @beirutcenterofphotography. The online print will last for two weeks, ending on August 26th at midnight Beirut time. 

 

Art photography by @saranaim__  part of print sale For the Love of Beirut 


 

The community from the arts and cultural district Alserkal Avenue in Dubai, are organising a day to raise funds and donate for Beirut.
If you are in Dubai, head to @alserkalavenue this Saturday for Together For Beirut.
See repost below for more information on how to help.

Repost: A day for Beirut. This Saturday, 15 August, come to Alserkal Avenue to support relief efforts for Lebanon. The Alserkal community will donate their proceeds, and Alserkal will match everything the community raises that day. We are also launching a drive to collect urgently needed items in Warehouse 46, and will have a collection point for any spare change in A4 Space.


To light, rainbows and better days with love to a civil society turning the rubble into hope. Thoughts and prayers to all those that have sadly passed away, are still missing and to the damaged infrastructure and the displaced.

Still image, reposted from the clip @beirutartresidency a contemporary art space and residency. The arts and creativity are at the heart of the country, please donate if you can to help the Lebanon. See below.

@beirutartresidency repost: The view from the residency was the site of yesterday’s unimaginable explosion. A space that fostered all our projects and hosted artists from all corners of the globe. Fortunately our family and friends are safe but Lebanon really needs your help. Donate now to @lebaneseredcross @impact.lebanon @beitelbaraka 


 

@dikkéni and artist @nouriflayhan collaborate on prints and totes such as the one above, with all profits going to NGO's and artists. Furthermore @dikkéni feature other items to purchase from Lebanese brands.


Special Beirut Donation T-shirt - in solidarity with Beirut, @theodoros_pressure  and @aylahibri have colloborated on the t-shirt to raise funds for their friends studios (fund for several arts studios organised by @cynthiamerhejhttps://pressureclothes.com/product/a-beirut/


 

Hammam Radio’s purpose since its inception has always been to give space for the voices of the marginalized, for the voices of womxn, and trans and non-binary folks. After a week of silence to honor the dead and grieve this experience, now is the time for action and solidarity. We are setting up this fundraiser for the Anti Racism Movement  and Haven for Artists . Proceeds will be split in half between the two. These two organizations have been providing food, shelter, and financial assistance to those who in most need of it. This fundraiser is created by the womxn of HammamRadio 


 

Lebanon Solidarity Fund: Fundraising Campaign for the Arts and Culture Community in Beirut
The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture – AFAC and Culture Resource (Al-Mawred Al-Thaqafy) launch an international fundraising campaign to support the culture and the arts community within Beirut. Both Culture Resource and AFAC will contribute to the fund with seed capital and handle its management and distribution to institutions and individuals in the arts and culture sector. This campaign builds on the recent joint solidarity initiative, Solidarity Fund to Arts and Culture Structures in Lebanon, by the two regional organizations and supported by three generous donors - Drosos Foundation, Ford Foundation and Open Society Foundations - to respond to cumulative pressures related to an economic collapse, restrictions on financial transactions, and uncontrolled inflation. Subsequently, the thorough mapping of arts and culture entities in Lebanon and the experience with an existing funding mechanism can effectively respond to the latest emergency needs. Sustaining a viable arts and culture fabric requires a medium- and longer-term accompaniment which is only possible through diverse, consistent and recurring support. The raised funds will be channeled to support affected arts and culture organizations and spaces based on identification of urgent needs. Our preliminary assessment of organizations damaged by the explosion includes the following:
  • Emergency reconstruction to ensure safety of premises and assets or rental in the case of temporary relocations when property is lost or severely damaged;
  • Protection, housing and transfer of invaluable collections (images, films, and musical archives);
  • Rehabilitation of premises (mainly furniture and other assets owned by the organizations including mechanical and electrical networks);
  • Repair and/or replacement of equipment (computers, monitors, external drives, specialized libraries

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. You can make your donations online through this link or through bank transferNote: If donors wish to remain anonymous, kindly inform us via email ([email protected] and [email protected]), otherwise your name/institution will be mentioned among the generous supporters in all communications related to this initiative.


 

@mophradat

Mophradat co-founded by artist Walid Raad, is a platform for artists from the Arab world creating opportunities through an inventive approach to funding, commissioning, collaborating, and gathering. They have started funding for the creative sector in Beirut:  mophradat.org/beirut-art-fund


 

Repost: Saint Hoax and Plastik are collecting funds to help restore Gemmayze and Mar Mikhael, two neighborhoods that were heavily impacted by the blast. These neighborhoods are a hub for Beirut’s heritage houses, restaurants, and startups led by young entrepreneurs. Most small businesses operate from these neighborhoods. Our offices are located there. They are destroyed along with the entire area. Luckily, we were all working from home that day due to COVID restrictions.

Transparency: We will share detailed updates on our respective pages (@PLASTIK and @SAINTHOAX) regarding the distribution of funds. We will only work with trustworthy and vetted organizations on the ground.

Thank you for helping us rebuild and restore our communities and give hope to the people whose lives and livelihoods have been devastated by this tragedy.


 

@SoukelTayeb, founded by @KamalMouzawak, is a food market showcasing the agricultural products of the country and Tawlet their restaurant with regional food. These places have been badly damaged. The donation to rebuild Tawlet and Souk el Tayeb Beirut, would help secure 100 jobs and preserve part of a culinary heritage. With @wckitchen they have started an emergency kitchen.


 

Repost: @cynthiamerhej is organising this fundraising appeal on behalf of Jonathan Blezard.  Studio Safar, Papercup, Jana Saleh are an integral part of Beirut's new creative wave. Their studios were based in two of the city’s hardest hit areas: Mar Mikhael and Gemmayzeh. With their working spaces, equipment, archives, and in one case, home, completely destroyed. The funds will be withdrawn by our trusted foreign beneficiary and good friend, Jonathan Blezard as we cannot send funds directly to Lebanon as per gofundme guidelines. They will then be equally divided into three and transferred to each business. 

Maya, Hatem, Rania, and Jana, have nurtured hundreds of young designers, musicians, fashion designers, and creatives throughout the last decade. Let's make sure that they can continue to live and work in Beirut as they intended!


@artrelief4beirut Initiative to raise funds for Beirut. All proceeds from sales go directly to @impact.lebanon @lebaneseredcross @baytna_baytak and more.


Damage done to the Creative sector:

 @alba.artsvisuels AcadeĢmie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts, UniversiteĢ de Balamand.

We were very saddened to hear that Jean Marc Bonfils, teacher a l'Alba passed away because of the devastation. R.I.P


 

One of Ashekman's graffiti art murals damaged by the devastation in Beirut, Lebanon.

Repost @ashekman: A Shattered beauty, we will fight, we will prevail and we will rise again! #Ashekman #TheStreetIsOurs


 

These images are of @creativespacebeirut. The team are thankfully all ok, but the damage done will take much work.
Our thoughts with @sarahermez co founder of @creativespacebeirut, Tracy Moussi general manager and all their students.

Creative Space is a fashion design school and a non for profit organisation. They sponsor students from all over Lebanon who cannot afford an education, and provide them with a three year education for free in fashion. They are currently rebuilding the school.


 

 

Remains of the Last Red Rose
Repost @galerietanit  :BEYROUTH EXPLOSION // Remains of the Last Red Rose by @abedalkadiri 
We mourn for Beirut, we keep our loved ones in our hearts, nothing can make up for what they have done! 

Thank you all for your kind wishes... We would like to send our love to the kind people that helped us with the aftermath.

Wishing our Beirut team a fast recovery 

We were saddened to see these images. Wishing @nailakettanehkunigk 
and all the team and artist @abedalkadiri a speedy recovery.

“In 1972 Naila Kettaneh Kunigk founded Galerie Tanit in Munich showing contemporary art in Munich,Germany. Galerie Tanit proceeded to show Lebanese artists in Germany from 2004 onwards. 2007 saw the establishment of a gallery showroom in Beirut with a varied international program.”


This is Jad El Khoury's art space @potatonose961 , it was damaged during the devastation. He is currently helping rebuild Beirut, a city which featured much of his art is on its walls, that will rise again!


This is Tom Young's art studio in Beirut. Tom is thankfully well but like most in his part of the city, his studio is severely damaged - windows, doors in rubble - miraculously his painting of a bus “Bosta” with the Lebanese Flag survived intact. Tom’s art can be found @tomyoungart ,he paints about Lebanon and has painted about the Lebanese Revolution since its start in October 2019. 


@sursockmuseum is an important place for art. The building itself is an art. It integrates Italian/Venetian and Ottoman architectural elements. We were so saddened to see these images and video clip of the museum as the result of the devastation, thankfully no one was physically hurt, wishing them strength and a quick ability to rebuild.
Watch video @tv5mondeinfo Twitter, of @zeinaarida director of the museum, she explains the devastation, referencing all the museums that have been touched, but also that no official/minister of culture has been in contact with her since the devastation. So the museums/ cultural sector and civil society are getting together, with the help of international movements and rebuilding.

repost: 1- @TarekMitri  2-@sursockmuseum/photo by #SashaUssef 3-@tv5mondeinfo 4-@tarekmitri 5- @joeyayoub


Images © to the orgs or artists referenced