The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture – AFAC and Culture Resource (Al-Mawred Al-Thaqafy) announce the launch of their joint initiative, a Solidarity Fund to support arts and culture structures in Lebanon. With this Solidarity Fund, the two regional organizations embark on their first collaboration to try and address some of the pressing needs facing the arts and culture sector in Lebanon, at a time when the country is in the throes of social and political upheaval due to nation-wide economic collapse.
The Solidarity Fund seeks to extend a one-time un-earmarked institutional grant to affected arts and culture organizations in Lebanon, and to offer the time they need to adjust to a rapidly changing environment. Envisioned to support the operations over a one-year period, the grant will be tailored to the needs of individual organizations providing them with means to retain their core teams in a way that allows them to think and reflect together on their mandates, operations, activities, and future; keep their spaces/venues; seek consultancies (legal, artistic, technical, and the like); to explore collaborative options with peer institutions; and relocate some of their activities and create regional partnerships that allow them to continue to do their work.
This support scheme of maximum USD 80,000 per organization will benefit up to 16 active arts and culture structures based in Lebanon from diverse practices, disciplines, and missions, and with clear links to community participation programs.
The deadline for submissions is 15 June, 2020 before midnight Beirut time. Interested applicants will be requested to submit a "Letter of Interest" and a set of supporting documents. More information about the program and details about the submission guidelines can be accessed here.
The Solidarity Fund for Arts & Culture Structures in Lebanon is supported by AFAC and Culture Resource’s long-standing donors including Open Society Foundations and Ford Foundation.