Annex B Institutional profiles and short descriptions of initiatives and cultural spaces featured in the Study stemming from Alexandria, Aswan, Mansoura, Minya and Port Said. Alexandria Agora (Alexandria). The idea behind Agora emerged in 2010 while Reem Kassem, Agora’s founder, worked at Bibliotheca Alexandria. After the revolution, the idea of re-claiming public spaces was gaining momentum and many groups were willing to volunteer. In February 2011, Reem led the music festival ibda’ b nafsak. Today, Agora implements festivals in public spaces every six months. Different funders support the festivals including UN agencies, the corporate sector, and embassies. Festivals take place at different locations in Alexandria, including Roman theatre, Stanley Bridge, Olympic club and at the University of Alexandria. Arab Center for Origami (Alexandria). Established in 2011 with a mission to spread the Japanese paper art of origami, the concept began as a hobby for the founder Osama Helmy and then developed upon realizing the potential use of origami as a tool for development. The Arab Center for Origami organizes workshops and performances for children, youth and elders using storytelling and theatre, among other form of arts in addition to origami. These are commissioned by local and international organizations with various mandates. The center is considered the only center in the Arab region that provides artistic human development through the art of origami. The center encourages creativity, innovation, freedom of expression and dialogue through various activities. To generate income, in addition to the mentioned activities, the center decorates private events such as weddings. Center Rézodanse (Alexandria) was founded in Egypt in 2010 as an LLC. It has organized the annual dance festival, Naseem el Raqs, over the past five years with the support of Goethe Institut, Institut Français, EU, British Council and the Dutch Embassy. The France-based NGO Momkin, is responsible for the organization. Momkin has undertaken a protocol with the tourism section of the governorate of Alexandria to facilitate the festival. Naseem el Raqs occurs over a period of one month where performers choose the location, build bridges with the local communities and jointly develop performance routines. In addition to in-house classes and workshops targeting children and adults for ballet, modern dance, hip-hop, yoga, creative writing, etc., Rézodanse has experience working with 15 Catholic schools in Alexandria on dance, over a period of 6 months, each. Rézodanse’s founder wishes to do the same with governmental schools to facilitate better integration in the area, though this stream of work is becoming more challenging given the general environment. Description of Alexandria (Wasf Eskendria). Mohamed Gohar established Sketching Alexandria in 2009, with the purpose of enabling architects to practice sketching. In 2012 the idea developed into a new concept that he named Wasf Eskendria, with the vision of documenting the architectural heritage of Alexandria. By 2013, he had a team of volunteers, who met weekly to discuss their progress and plans; and to walk throughout Alexandria to sketch out important buildings. Wasf Eskendria publish a regular journal every two months on one of Alexandria’s buildings; featuring sketches as well as the social value, which they do through conducting
1
interviews with individuals that have memories with the structure and place. The journal is only released online, since they do not have funds to cover printing. They plan to publish a documentary book, containing five chapters about Alexandria. On a longer term, Gohar is planning to establish a research center for Description of Alexandria, but beforehand, the team needs training on documentation, research and management. El Madina Performing and Digital Arts (Alexandria) began as an independent theatre troupe in 2000, aiming to create a theatrical market that connects the Mediterranean region. El Madina trains crews, directs and produces plays as well as manages art and cultural spaces. El Madina is registered as an LLC. The establishment of the space was supported by Al Mawred Al Thaqafy. Until 2014, El Madina had a 600m2 studio that comprised eight halls for workshops, trainings and small performances. In 2014, no further funding was possible. El Madina tried to sustain itself through renting out its space (EGP 10 p/hour) to the groups and bands of Alexandria (approximately 140). According to the team, it was the one place, then, where people could practice. The studio was also providing consultancy for proposal-writing, paid programs, workshops for amateurs and beginners. Yet, the latter did not work very well, since El Madina was targeting a group that was too broad. The studio offered its space for experienced artists to train other, for a fee. By the end of 2014, El Madina had to close its studio. Since 2014, El Madina has an office and is focusing on theatre production and practice on the streets. The idea is to encourage artists to better interact with local communities. So far, El Madina has undertaken 19 workshops in different locations, which were quite successful, according to the team. Recently in 2016, El Madina and Arab Digital Expression Foundation (ADEF) have a joint program on a digital lab that conducts photography, editing, and documentation, with support from Drosos. Fig Leaf Studio (Alexandria) is a film production company founded in 2005 by Mark Lotfy and others, with the idea of creating a space to produce personal and individual projects. Fig Leaf had its own camera and montage unit and worked closely with Jesuits, particularly Islam Kamal, who used to train at Jesuits. Today, Fig Leaf has a team of 20, ranging from art directors, sound engineers, post production specialists and directors, amongst others. Fig Leaf does not only produce its own or independent films, but also major-production cinema films that it is commissioned to produce from film makers in Cairo. Fig Leaf’s team appreciates this type of work as it is generally very good training to the team members and generates a good income to the company. Fig Leaf has also partnered with an Italian organization, Ricerca e Cooperazione (RC), to build capacities of filmmakers in the Delta. Gudran (Alexandria) was founded in 2000 as an NGO and obtained its registration in 2003. The NGO was founded with the mandate of promoting arts and enabling social change in public spaces through the arts. Gudran manages cultural spaces: El Max, Dokkan el Mansheya, Wekalet Behna and El Cabina. Gudran works in a variety of art forms including music, cinema, architecture, literature and visual arts; and has the mission of introducing this wide spectra of arts to deprived parts of society, on the one hand. On the other hand, it secures safe spaces for arts accessible to artists, particularly female. It supports arts and artists in general; making equipment and knowledge available as needed, hosts workshops, exhibitions, rents out its spaces for rehearsals, hosts book reading and signing sessions. Gudran has its own cinema club and carries out an annual music festival, under the name Oufuqy Music Festival.
2
Jesuits Cultural Center, El Nahda Association for Scientific and Cultural Renaissance (Alexandria). It is safe to say that nearly all independent filmmakers studying in or coming from Alexandria, have obtained their knowledge of the film industry at the Jesuits. From 60 applicants, eight to 10 applicants are admitted to the annual film workshops. The workshop is heavily subsidized; participants only pay EGP 1000 for the one-year, three days a week workshop. This makes Jesuits filmmaking workshops the lengthiest and most comprehensive in Alexandria. Besides teaching filmmaking, the Jesuits see its mandate to support and promote the independent film scene. This is mostly done by offering its spaces for different groups (who have come out of its workshops) for practice and performance. In addition, the school offers small side workshops for amateurs led by tutors from within and outside Egypt. Besides teaching, the Jesuits have a cultural center where they host a center of learning; a garage theatre used as a space for workshops and theatre, a cinema, music performances; and a cultural salon. The Jesuits recently started hosting and supporting some of the groups that are products of their workshops such as Beit el Hakawy, Heshes Clowns, Karakeeb Makerspace (see below), Description of Alexandria (see above) , Fan el Hayah (Art of Life), which conducts development work through arts with street children. Jesuits also host the film festival of Goethe and the European Panorama. Karakeeb Makerspace (Alexandria) is an informal initiative, launched by a group of engineers who are passionate about technology, electronics and up-cycling trash. Karakeeb conducts workshops and manufactures robots, planes, multi-rotors and ROVs using recycled and new materials. They are not limiting their target to engineers, and they are keen on sharing their knowledge with many. They have two main programs for children and youth. The first, 3ila (Arabic for family) targets children aged 5 to 15, the second targets youth over 15 years of age. The programs include training on and manufacturing of technological goods. In addition, they give workshops in Bibliotheca Alexandria, Jesuits, El Sadat University in Cairo, among others. Revolution Records (Alexandria) is both a band (founded in 2006, expressing political hip hop) and a recording studio. With the momentum of the revolution, the band produced an album covering events the time of Khaled Said’s murder in 2010 till 2013, when former President Mohamed Morsi left office. A coincidence introduced Revolutionary Records to the Danish NGO Rapolitics, which invited Revolution Records to Denmark to perform. There, the band expanded its network further and managed to receive a grant from CKU (Center for Culture and Development – a Danish organization which has since been closed) to support its efforts to found a studio in Alexandria. The four founders and members of the band still play their music on the one hand; and, engage in projects whenever possible to promote hip-hop music and help other musicians in Alexandria, according to Mahmoud Rady (known as Rony). In one of the projects that they had with Rapolitics, Revolution Records made an album for rappers, which they named 16 bars. They selected rappers who had less than 10,000 views online, for auditions. Furthermore, Revolution Records conducts rapping workshops for school students, sound engineering sessions and music collection workshops at the studio. Revolution Records has one working experience with the British Council, which has supported one of the former’s albums. The studio is a hub where hip-hop artists gather, learn, jam and record. While the studio is one of few in Alexandria, it barely covers its running costs and pays for the salary of Temrez, the only founder that takes Revolution Records on as a full-time job. Revolution Records continues producing new albums and engages in festivals and concerts, whenever possible. However, it struggles to sustain itself.
3
Rufy's Films (Alexandria) is a group of five graduates of the Jesuits’ film school who initially collaborated to produce a self-funded film. The film came to being with help of the film director Ibrahim El Batoot. The film, Odet el Feran, a low-production film, was sent to Enjaaz film festival in Dubai, where it competed with larger productions; and received a post-production prize of USD 15,000. The crew travelled with their film to several other festivals, received additional grants, sold their film to Emirates Airways; and, ultimately generated the capital to found their company, Rufy's. Unlike Fig Leaf, Rufy's does not commission work. The five partners of Rufy's direct and produce films together, under the umbrella of Rufy's, yet each of them work on his/her own film. Rufy's does not own most the equipment it needs; but leases or uses Fig Leaf Studio equipment - often for free. The partners find that advertising is quite tiring and that it may take their focus away from their main activities. Rufy's believes that it needs to enhance its networking. Teatro Eskendria (Alexandria) is registered as a for-profit company, founded with the vision of dissemination of Egyptian culture. Teatro Eskendria is a combination of a social hub, where performances take place, a café-restaurant and an arts space. The monthly schedule includes film, theatre, music and workshops on script-writing; many of those activities are undertaken in partnership with embassies and cultural centers. Teatro hosts the International Association for Creation and Training (I-act), Reveille Festival and Backstreet Festival. Reveille Festival is a mini regional theatre forum for independent theatre. Backstreet Festival aims to host performing arts in open and non-traditional spaces with the objective of merging performing arts into the culture of the Egyptian street and thus paving the way for practicing freedom of expression, according to Teatro. It also hosts ten-minute performances to promote new performers. The idea is that the theatre reaches people in the streets, not the other way around. Abou Doma, the founder, reaches people through all possible attractions including food and shisha. Arts need to be attractive, according to her. She sees her project as an extension of Rézodanse (see above), El Madina (see above) and Gudran (see above) – who all work in their respective areas to promote arts and culture. Teatro Eskendria worked with Gudran on performances in under-privileged areas (Kafr Ashary); including performances in governmental schools. Varphai’s (Alexandria) main focus is the production of web series. One season comprising 15 episodes was produced and uploaded on Youtube, but was weakly marketed. Varphai developed the concept and action planned, and issued an open call for scriptwriters. Six script writers worked on the season - considered an experimental task for all participating script writers. Varphai also produced two short films, one of which participated in the Plaza film festival, winning a prize. One of their goals is to establish a space or a network including all the required skills to produce films. The idea is to promote peer learning and mentorship between various expertise and techniques as well as to set the foundation of the culture of in-kind crowd funding to support their artwork. Mohamed El Kateb, founder of Varphai, expressed the need to have equipped education in Alexandria whereby the techniques could be taught and applied. Warsha Art Space (Alexandria). Founded in 2014 by graduates from the Faculty of Fine Arts, two of which are teaching in the Faculty and the third managing an art gallery in Cairo. Warsha launched its activities by organizing a nine-month workshop on stop-motion films. The manufacturing, filming and editing processes then lasted approximately two years, resulting in
4
two films. This is considered the first workshop with a focus on animation and animated film production in Alexandria. The workshop was conducted in collaboration with Rufy’s (see above) who lead the training on film making while Warsha focused on the stop motion component. Warsha owns some equipment that they rent out to generate income to cover the costs of the workshop because they are keen to produce it with minimal expenses They also try to be creative when it comes to the material used for the films to reduce costs. They aim to establish a school for stop-motion and animation but they do not have the financial means, contacts nor equipment. The team also acknowledged the challenge of collaboration. Warsha does not have a legal status yet. Aswan Fekra Cultural Center (Aswan) is a privately owned open space overlooking the temple of Philae. The space has a three-pronged strategy focusing on: culture (music and film), social aspect (ecotours and permaculture sessions); and, spirituality (hosting yoga retreats or similar). On the side, they conduct limited projects with the local community. Fekra have a clear vision but are not accessible to the local community. Limiting their scope to hosting activities rather than accommodation, Fekra cooperates with nearby villages whereby they lodge guests who come to attend the sessions. Mirage Independent Theatre Troupe (Aswan) was established in 2004 by Ahmed el Ghoul and has produced approximately 30 plays. Mirage also organizes workshops followed by the Monodrama festival. Nabta (Aswan) is an individual facility led and funded by Islam Shahat. Nabta’s main focus is producing and marketing modern, good quality designs recycling palm tree and other natural products using traditional and new techniques. Nabta has a mandate to create job opportunities for women, and is assisted by experts to work with women on quality and design. Nuba Tube (Aswan) is the first web channel speaking Nubian languages, with Arabic and English subtitles. The project is driven by the urge to preserve Nubian identity and rights. The team consists of 38 people; only 12 are employees and the rest are volunteers, most of which graduated from the Faculty of Mass Communication in Aswan. The team received training on cinematography and editing. The plan is to be self-sustainable within one or two years upon reaching a certain number of viewership. Nuba Tube are broadcasting two hours per day. They are also planning to organize Nubian cultural camps with the support of Robert Bosch Stiftung. The Story of Nubian Art (Aswan) is a group mainly comprise of musicians from the Nubian village of Gostor, that are trying to document and preserve their culture by teaching children Nubian songs and preparing gatherings with other villages. The group is supported by the Jesuits. Tonat (Aswan) is a music band established in 2012, specializing in reggae, jazz, African and traditional music, targeting youth from Aswan and Cairo. Some of the members partake in parallel to work while others participate full-time. The band comprises four vocals, a guitarist and two
5
percussionists. They premiered in Cairo where they performed in El Sawy Culture Wheel. The audience was limited to 50 of their friends. They later performed in El Rab3 Culture Center with an audience of 400. Mansoura Books‘n’Beans (Mansoura) is a bookstore offering different cultural activities such as artistic workshops, music, handcrafts, film related workshops, hosting art exhibitions, book signings, music and theatre performances inside and outside the venue. Books’n’Beans’ business model is for profit as it relies on bookselling and the fees from activities. Distortion Studio (Mansoura) was founded by Amr Medhat, a pharmacist who decided to make a career shift to set up Distortion Studio, where he creates his own music and offers services to other musicians and bands. Medhat is a self-taught guitarist who specializes in metal music; and, who gained fame within the metal community through posting videos of his music online. Today, Medhat is the guitarist of the famous ODIOUS metal band; and the singer of the UK-based band Awakening Within. Distortion Studio is the first recording studio in Mansoura, and serves as a hub for musicians in Mansoura to gather, form bands and record their music. Oxygen Academy (Mansoura). Manar Adel, a young university student in Mansoura, founded Oxygen with the aim of reviving arts in Mansoura on the one hand; and, using arts for development purposes, on the other hand. Oxygen is not a registered entity, has a network of volunteers, who are the backbone of Oxygen’s work. Oxygen’s network reaches beyond Mansoura; groups of volunteers in Port Said, Zaqazig and Tanta are affiliated to Oxygen. In Mansoura, Oxygen undertakes its activities mainly at the main library. Activities include arts workshops for children, art therapy workshops for adults, artistic activities to encourage reading; and, combined events where music, theatre and painting may intersect. Sakyet Baheya (Mansoura) is a cultural venue located in a relatively remote area of Mansoura founded by Ahmed EL Wassif, a former lawyer. The space is vast; however, not yet well established in terms of infrastructure, nor in terms of a functional business model. It is struggling for sustainability, yet has potential since it is one of a kind in Mansoura. Zat (Mansoura) is an art gallery founded by Hanan Fekry in early 2016 with the aim of promoting arts in homes. Hanan is a painter, make-up artist and theatre designer, who is today fully dedicated to Zat. Hanan, with help of two of her friends, sells her paintings, makes portraits, make-up sessions and offers arts and music classes at Zat. Miniya Cloud co-working space (Minya) was established in 2014 as an individual facility, and is a partner of Rise Up. Cloud is an interactive space where users work and experiment, play music or do computer programming. The team comprises seven members who manage the space and share
6
the revenue equally. Since most of those involved are engineers there is a special interest in technology and start-ups. To generate income from sources other than membership fees, Cloud began collecting fees from users who use the space for study purposes. Cloud also has a studio targeting filmmakers, and is trying to create an ecosystem to support start-ups. Dawar El Fnoon (Minya) began as a theatre troupe that worked for a year before establishing the space. Most of their income was generated from conducting services for NGOs. Dawar El Fnoon organizes festivals in public space, rent their venue, organize workshops and a cinema club. They believe in the importance of collaboration, and support emerging initiatives. Dawar El Fnoon have diverse sources of funding including income generating activities that cover their running costs and funds from various donors. Graffiti (Minya) was established as an LLC in March 2016, by Ali Ahmed and Baha Zaher. Graffiti is a space concerned with enlightenment and heritage in addition to presenting new ideas and forms of art. The founders of Graffiti are a lawyer/philanthropist, an ex-tour leader, and an artist. The idea behind Graffiti is inspired by and affiliated with an initiative established in Sohag called Dream of the South (Helm El Ganoub) by a group of poetry and theatre lovers. Graffiti is a space to create art by discovering new talents, providing training as well as a space for performance and expression. Graffiti targets university students with the aim that they will promote arts and culture in their home villages. Graffiti tries to merge art with development, and conduct/host music events, festivals, cultural salon, and training on theatre (drama, psychodrama), oriental arts and traditional crafts. The Jesuits and Freres Association (Minya) is an NGO mainly focusing on developmental issues and has one of the very few independent theatres in Minya (since 1996) which burned down a few years ago. Concerned with human development, they have launched a program focusing on children's behavior and values through arts and culture. The program uses plastic arts, theatre, photography, filming, montage and contemporary dance in addition to other recreational activities to fulfil its goal. As a by-product of this program a generation of artists emerged and started their own initiatives with the aim of promoting arts and culture. These then criticized the Jesuits for limiting their support to youth to this program without supporting the young initiatives to be established and to operate independently. In response to this request, the Jesuits launched a program to support these initiatives with a seed fund as well as with more in-depth technical and professional training. The Jesuits also provides the space for performances; and has ongoing lectures, book discussions, cinema club, etc. Their impact reached other villages by training and supporting other local NGOs or individuals (example Wesal Project) to conduct artistic and cultural activities in their own villages. Kawalis Theatre Troupe (Minya) consists of high school and university students. Kawalis started as part of the scouts’ movement then became independent in 2011, currently comprising 30 to 35 artists representing both genders with different specializations. There are five fixed artists (two of whom will pursue a professional career), whose age sets the ceiling for the membership, and the others change in accordance with their availability (most girls marry at 20 years old and stop acting). They have presented various plays in various local theatres and festivals. Kawalis believe that if they have a space of their own, then they will become more stable and sustainable. Kawalis
7
are challenged by the cost of renting venues and by the censorship or control of the cultural palaces and other governmental institutions such as the tax department. They value the idea of having an independent theatre in Minya and they acknowledge the importance of availability of resources – not necessarily funds - as well as that of investment in improving talent in Upper Egypt. Lamsa Theatre Troupe (Minya) commenced within the church organization but became independent in 2006. Lamsa comprises approimately 21 artists, mostly students, and a director. Lamsa produced various plays that are presented in various local theatres and festivals. They present their own plays as well as adaptations of Egyptian and international novels. Lamsa perform in villages in collaboration with local communities, which are interested in art, and ready to provide them with a space to perform and part of the transportation costs. Some of their income is generated from conducting workshops, and may be donations or in-kind contribution by the church, such as, providing rehearsal space for free. Lamsa is launching a new component, Lamsa Kids, targeting children and using clowns as means of entertainment. They see that a formal status may give them better access to public theatres. Port Said Boulevard (Port Said) is the first co-working space in Port Said founded in December 2014, managed by Mostafa Naguib and Rofaida El Taweel. Users pay a ticket to access and use the space for studying, meetings, attending cultural events and participation in workshops. The workshops, which used to include semsemeya-making, journalism and caricature, proved to be too expensive due to limited audience numbers. Boulevard sees the support to entrepreneurs and start-ups as part of its mandate. The Boulevard team is researching ways of attracting entrepreneurs, and establishing its reputation in that sector. Port Said ‘ala adeemo is an initiative that was founded by a young architectural student, with the aim of studying possibilities to preserve the architectural wealth of Port Said and its particularities. The initiative attracted a group of young architects working with the owner of Aldorado theatre, to come up with ideas and solutions to readapt the building, so that it is utilized, without being destroyed. They are studying the option of readapting it into a cultural or a co-working space. Furthermore, Port Said ‘ala adeemo organizes cultural walks for youths, with the aim of raising awareness and generating income for heritage areas not known by the local community of Port Said. Port Said ‘ala adeemo have ideas to work with the corporate sector by proposing to obtain an office space in one of the architectural heritage building, in return of refurbishing and renovating it efficiently. They have excellent documentation on Port Said. Their logo is a lighthouse combined with digital sign, indicating their philosophy of preserving the old and using the past to fill the needs of today. While the group is relatively connected to people doing similar work in Cairo, they are still inexperienced, and not sustainable and do not have a clear plan for how they shall take their project forward, institutionally.
8
Toratheya Cultural Space (Port Said) was established by Mohamad Ghali, a carpenter with a passion for semsemeya making. Toratheya is on the one had a museum for the semsemya; and on the other hand, a manufacturing space for traditional music instruments, such as the semsemya and tambura, in addition to hosting cultural events. These including El Wansa, a traditional musical evening during which the semsemeya is played. Toratheya is new and the business model is still in the making. El Toratheya is a small place that could host only a few tables for attendants. Ibrahim Guindy, an AUC graduate, recently joined Ghali. They are in the process of establishing a sound and recording studio. It is not clear, however, to what extent Port Said has a demand for such a studio; and to what extent the owners will have value-added in the production and distribution of music recorded. We Have Fann (Port Said). Mayar El Tuhamy and her partner May Ossama are founders of the selffunded We Have Fann street music festival (Fann translates to art in Arabic). It is not clear how El Tuhamy and Ossama are planning to continue their endeavors. Registering will be expensive and difficult, according to the partners. Together with volunteers, they are organizing themselves internally and studying possible ways forward.
9