Get involved

Artists and cultural institutions from the Arab region operate in an increasingly challenging environment and often with conditional support. It is the diversity of sustained funding and being less captive to agendas that allows authentic creativity to flourish.

AFAC strives to nurture a robust ecosystem for the arts and culture sector in the Arab region by engaging with a diverse network of givers. This includes going beyond the non-profit channels of funding and exploring innovative partnerships with for-profit organizations, for-benefit enterprises, and individual philanthropists.

A critical pillar for local sustainability is individual philanthropy. Generous individuals are the beacon of sustained funding for independent artists and cultural institutions. AFAC has pioneered platforms to mobilize individual giving from across the Arab region. One of the platforms has been the Arab Creativity and Entrepreneurship Fund which since 2014 has attracted generous individuals to invest annually, constituting roughly a third of AFAC’s annual budget.

Why invest in arts and culture?

Creative expression has the power to inspire new visions for our region, provoke important questions, and re-invent Arab societies that are open, self-sustained and have the power to produce their narratives.

AFAC is about conveying broad geographies of the mind and imagination from the Arab region. We proliferate diverse narratives about urgent topics through words and images. We instigate critical thinking to create more open societies. We stimulate local economies by cultivating audiences and engaging professionals. We spur on new technologies to make arts and culture more accessible.

In twelve years, we invested in 1,350 talents and independent voices from the Arab region and in diaspora. Join to expand the creative space for many more emerging artists and established practitioners through performing arts, visual arts, documentary photography, documentary film, cinema, music, creative and critical writings, arts and culture entrepreneurship, research on the arts, and training and regional events. AFAC supports Arab artists in exile through local collaborations, such as our active engagement in Germany through the Arab European Creative Platform.

If you are not yet an AFAC supporter, join our circle of supporters by making your first contribution. If you are already an AFAC supporter, renew your esteemed support to scale up opportunities for artists and cultural practitioners from the Arab region.

How can you support?

Your contribution is more than a donation. The return on investing in arts and culture is personal fulfillment for the artist, a social engagement with communities, and a source of income for emerging and established practitioners.

Whether you are an individual philanthropist, a company, a foundation or an institution, your giving can be for:

General support: This is what enables us to do our core work and to develop institutionally. In addition to individuals who are anchors of our work, AFAC is currently supported by the Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and DOEN Foundation. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry is AFAC’s government partner, supporting the institution since 2014.

Tailored support to a program: As a private sector investor, individual donor or an institution, you can focus your contribution on one of our ten programs or explore new initiatives that address priorities in the arts and culture sector. AFAC has program partnerships with Prince Claus Fund and Magnum Foundation on the Arab Documentary Photography Program; with Drosos Foundation and the German Federal Office on Arts and Culture Entrepreneurship; with the Arab Council for the Social Sciences on Research on the Arts; and with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation on a cultural program in North Africa.

Event sponsorship: We welcome strategic partnerships on major events, be it financial or in-kind. Such events rally a wide public audience, donors and AFAC’s Board of Trustees in diverse settings. Our sponsors encompass banks (HSBC and UBS), corporations (HBK and Middle East Airlines), foundations (Boghossian Foundation), and media (LBCI).

Check out our Resources section for stories of impact demonstrated by arts and culture initiatives. Learn about what troubles, intrigues and inspires young people today. Explore through those stories bold and alternative narratives.

For further inquiry, communicate with us here.

To contribute through our campaign on Givingloop, click here