© Mazen Kerbaj
On the edge of genre, memory and tradition: AFAC Music 2025 grantees announced
12 / 11 / 2025

Exploring the boundaries of a voice or an instrument, trying to pull from archives to remember a past war in light of a new war, reviving a lost harvest song, crafting songs for children, supporting peaceful resistance, the twenty projects selected to receive 2025 AFAC Music grants have taken up a diverse range of possibilities for what music can be and what it is for.

But in their engagements with the rhythms and melodies that structure our lives in the region at large and in their specificity, be it a Palestinian camp in Lebanon or among the diaspora in Europe, the peripheral musics of Morocco’s Jebala mountains or from a new musical hub in Gaza, each of the projects selected in this cycle are exploring the expressive possibilities of music for the people who listen and play it both in the past and in the future.

Questions of identity and belonging, of climate change and resistance dot many of these projects. Others are singularly focused on probing the depths of a long established musical tradition or the possibilities offered by an instrument.

The 350 applications submitted for consideration in this grant cycle were reviewed by initial readers’ committees made up of: Yacine Boulares (Tunisia), Youssra El Hawary (Egypt), Widad Mjama (Morocco), Makram Aboul Hosn (Lebanon), Soumia Idba (Morocco) and Tareq Rantisi (Palestine).

Shortlisted applications were then evaluated by a jury composed of singer and composer Noma Omran (Syria); artist and musician Raed Yassin (Lebanon); and singer and musician Mehdi Nassouli (Morocco). Following their deliberations and the final selection, the jurors issued the statement below:

    “The jury experience offered a unique opportunity to gain insights that would be difficult to attain otherwise.
    We were able to enter the worlds of many musical genres and musicians — to get to know their talents, their relationships with the world and their diverse artistic approaches that elevate humanistic values, whether those tied to their own countries or elsewhere.
    The jury felt a particular respect for the artistic maturity of the projects we received from Palestine, with some even coming, despite the war, from Gaza. As a jury, we were delighted to receive such projects and were moved by the gravity of their subject matter.
    The jury found it enriching to engage with the important ideas proposed by the applicants and with the great care devoted to each project. We had a shared appreciation for the musicians and enjoyed examining the indications of the applicants’ musical talent.
    The submissions showed the engagement – emotional and artistic – of Arab artists in the diaspora with current issues in the Arab world. While the jury acknowledges this rooted and interactive awareness, it likewise commends the participation of the younger generations, hoping that they will continue applying for production grants, as we all await — and need — their contributions.
    What was striking this year was how most projects converged in their concerns and artistic approaches, as they sought to find keys to the relationship between authentic Arab identity and contemporary music, in pursuit of innovative artistic propositions.
    There is a surge of inner strength that comes from realizing that these many talents and aspirations live among us across the Arab world — talents that once again affirm the wealth that can arise from a world of many cultures, religions and ethnicities. This reminds us that when talent meets knowledge, courage and a spirit of adventure, something new begins.”

Congratulations to the selected projects: