Art Lives: Emergency Initiative to Support Arab Arts Practitioners

Ettijahat – Independent Culture, Action For Hope, and Mophradat are pleased to announce the launch of the Art Lives Initiative, which is an exceptional project to support artistic practitioners residing in the Arab Region. The initiative comes as a quick and flexible response to protect artists and cultural practitioners in the Arabic Region whose livelihoods and health have been affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus.

Why Art Lives?

Long before COVID-19, a significant number of citizens in the Arab Region suffered from a lack of basic social protection measures. In these countries, most of the workforce is self-employed or works informally. This includes a majority of artists such as musicians, theatre and filmmakers, actors, photographers, and visual artists, as well as artistic managers, curators, technicians, and organizers. Today, their challenges are made more difficult, due to a global lockdown which has disrupted artistic activities, and has led to the closure of artistic venues, and the ceasing of production and touring.

The Art Lives Initiative is not only limited to alleviating the impact of such difficulties on artistic practitioners but also to empower the presence of Art in our lives as artistic recipients. Over the past few months, we have witnessed how people across the world have turned to Arts and Culture to resist the impact of isolation, and how they’ve relied on creative outputs from artists and creators, be it individuals or groups, to ease the burden and challenges of recent events. This has reaffirmed the many ways in which Art is crucial to the social and humanitarian frameworks of life.

Objectives

Enabling artists in the Arab Region, including individuals from the LGBTQ community, single parents, and those with dependents, and allowing them to overcome urgent economic challenges due to the aftermath of COVID-19.
Providing support to cover the cost of health care services for artists in fragile conditions, living in the Arab Region, allowing them to continue their work and practice.
Encourage and guide a conversation about the status of the artist in the Arab Region, with the hope that it will lead to the proposal of activities, policies, and laws which contribute to the betterment of the artist’s living conditions in this part of the world.

What are the activities of the Art Lives Initiative?

Healthcare Support: To provide emergency healthcare support to 35 artists from different artistic fields and age groups, enabling them to look after their physical and psychological health in the short term.
Livelihood Support: To provide livelihood support for 50 artists from different artistic fields and age groups, and who have lost work and income due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Research and Advocacy: This framework, in parallel with the first and second activity, allows for a series of studies on the forms and methods of supporting the stability and safety of art practitioners in the Arab Region. The aim is to reach conclusions that can be used as a basis for discussion on the status of artists in the Arab region and to advocate for activities and procedures which can empower them.

Who are the target groups of the Art Lives Initiative?

The initiative targets individual artists working in the Arab region, regardless of their age, the field of work, gender, sexuality, religion, and ethnicity, including emerging artists, technicians, and art managers working across the creative arts sector. Listed below are a number of priority groups that have been most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the consequent economic and social challenges:

Artists residing in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Palestine, and Tunisia
Artists who have been displaced from their home countries and who live in the aforementioned countries
Artists working as “freelancers” and lacking options for official social protection
Artists from the LGBTQ community and single parents, be it mothers or fathers
Artists with dependants, be it, family members or partners
Artists who live alone and have no social and healthcare safety nets
Artists who suffer from long term physical and/or mental health issues

Privacy

All parties involved in the initiative will maintain the privacy of beneficiaries, including their names, application data, and any other personal information, with respect to their right to privacy.

This initiative is intended to support individuals and their families; therefore, a family member can apply on behalf of the artist as long as they can provide an explanation why.

The initiative will provide direct support to 75 artists from the Arab Region, and is launched in a collaborative effort between the three institutions, with the support of the Ford Foundation.

To download the Application Form and the General Guidelines and FAQs, please click on the files below.
Fill out your application form and send it to one of the following email addresses:
For Healthcare Support: artlives@ettijahat.org
For Livelihood Support: artlives@act4hope.org

Art Life Support

Emergency Support for Artists based in Beirut Within the framework of the Art Life Initiative (2020)
Art Life (2021)

Art Lives- FAQ's EN

Art Lives - Application Form