MAHARAT: Building Careers in Performing Arts
MAHARAT: Building careers in performing arts, is a programme launched by Ettijahat-Independent Culture, in partnership with DROSOS FOUNDATION. The programme has been designed to provide training opportunities for young professionals over three editions starting in the year 2021 until 2024 and facilitate the growth of a new generation of performing arts technicians. MAHARAT includes a conceptual and technical training programme, specifically tailored to the various techniques of Lighting and Sound in theatre, and Stage Management. In addition to the training component, MAHARAT provides interactive digital resources, in Arabic, revolving around the technical side of the performing arts field. These resources fall under the creative commons license and are available for all artists in the MINA region who are interested in enhancing their skills.
MAHARAT programme provides the opportunity to develop knowledge and to apply it practically through training, according to a curriculum designed and conducted by the best experts in Lebanon and the Arab region. In addition, the programme provides intensive training opportunities, artistic residencies and lectures in collaboration with well-respected artistic organizations and entities operating in the Arab Region, which are open for the public to attend, particularly university students, artistic entities, and artists seeking to further develop their craft. MAHARAT focuses on the interaction between the independent cultural sector and the private sector, to enhance the role of the performing arts on a social level, which eliminates the concept of centrality, reduces the chances of unemployment, increases the stability of the creative sector, and strengthens the local experience.
In its first edition, the programme targets students and performing arts practitioners residing in Lebanon, while providing opportunities for participation for several residents from the Arab region in its second and third editions. Throughout the designed training programme, participants are introduced to various experiences of artistic groups and organizations working in the field and can engage in their present creative projects. In a similar vein, participants will get to benefit from various other experiences brought by international experts and technicians from the Arab region, Europe and the US, aiming to enhance their knowledge and experience and to improve the overall quality of performing arts productions in Lebanon and the Arab region on a longer-term.
Background
During the past few years, cultural organizations, artistic groups, and independent artists in Lebanon have managed to reposition Arts and cultural practices in life’s general frame of work and to discuss the important roles of performing arts in contributing to the country’s local economy and in improving living conditions on a social and economic level.
Despite the rich and dynamic cultural life that already exists, there is a severe lack of trained personnel in lighting, sound, and stage management. The independent and commercial culture, arts, and entertainment sectors in Lebanon often rely on specialists from outside Lebanon or local low-quality untrained personnel. The result is a weak artistic sector, unable to develop its own abilities nor able to enhance the skills of its existing technicians and therefore ends up relying on unsustainable and expensive expertise. This hinders, in addition, the sector's opportunities for sustainability, which are increasingly needed in the face of the obstacles already faced by the global creative sector on a social and financial level, and in regards to mobility and public safety, which are met with broader challenges in Lebanon as a result of the economic crisis and minimal employment, as well as the recent effects and aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Ever since 2018, Ettijahat has launched a new area of work that further focuses on developing art education, connecting arts to the labour market, building artistic capacities, and promoting professionalism in the arts sector, allowing it to contribute to other relevant sectors, by supporting academic and vocational art education and artists’ growth in terms of skills and knowledge.
Ettijahat believes in the expertise and knowledge and the profit generated from the performing arts sector within the Arab region. It considers this to be its main investment, a source that is rich and inspiring enough to reach countries from across the world, all the while working on developing its professional aspect and protecting its specificities. This requires an investment in technical resources and in enhancing the experience and knowledge of artists through modern and practical ways. Such work will contribute to filling the gaps existing on an academic level, minimizing centrality, repairing the lack of specialized training opportunities and overcoming the challenges related to language and the ongoing development of technology.
Objectives
- Developing the technical skills of personnel in the artistic and cultural sector in order to raise the level of professionalism in the various fields of performing arts and meet the need for such trained personnel in Lebanon and the artistic sector of the Arab Region
- Providing the technical personnel in the performing arts sectors of Lebanon and the Arab Region with the skills and abilities to build new careers working in arts, to enhance their employability, and raise their level of professionalism
- Strengthening and empowering the cultural and creative sector in Lebanon and the Arab Region by enhancing the capacity of those who work in technical disciplines, and improving their ability to contribute to public life and the labour market
