As part of the 1st edition of the AL-MU7AFFIZ support grant, 8 projects out of 70 applications have been chosen from the fields of performing arts, photography, film, research, animation film education, music, drawing.
Biography:
Laura Menassa is a Beirut-based photographer and a member of Collectif 1200 and WomenPhotograph.
Born into an Italian-Lebanese family, Laura found herself in a multicultural environment, raising questions about identity, body image, the concepts of territory and time. She uses her camera as a tool to understand our place within society, apprehend people and the different facets of life. Her approach is defined by an exploration of the world around her, moving between documentary and intimate perspectives, from the personal to the public sphere. She delves into the unseen and the untold, questioning taboos and perceptions by examining the city, her culture, and her own body.
Project:
In 2022, I started "You Told Me I Was Beautiful," a project that explores eating disorders and their underlying social and familial factors in Lebanon. Through conversations with women, I realized the significant impact of social norms and beauty standards on their perception of body image. These discussions often centered on common themes such as body hair, body shape, cultural or societal expectations of women. What should be a personal decision often becomes a contested space where external opinions and societal pressures intervene, challenging women to define their own sense of identity and femininity.
This project delves into the factors behind eating disorders, the stigma around body hair, and the prevalence of plastic surgery, shedding light on the taboos and pressures that women across the Arab World face. It aims to document the struggles of womanhood, share experiences, promote healing, and celebrate women.
Biography:
Based in Beirut, Josef Khallouf began his directing career in 2005, creating acclaimed shorts like “Holiday in the Mountains” (2005), “Beit Byout” (Cyprus Int'l Film Fest 2009), “VNV: An Essay on Existentialism” (Lebanese Film Fest 2018), and “Radio” (Distribution Phase 2024). His feature documentary “Conflict” 1949 – 1979 screened at Document 12 Int'l Human Rights Doc Film Fest, Glasgow 2014. Josef taught Directing at Antonine University in 2021-2022 and in 2023 initiated the collective feature project “Letters” with 18 Lebanese filmmakers. He's currently developing his feature narrative “The Dream Maker”.
Project:
October 2023, amid Lebanon's turmoil and the war on Gaza, 18 Lebanese filmmakers unite for "Letters“, a project curated by Josef Khallouf, capturing the nation's emotional state. Each filmmaker writes a personal letter reflecting on the impact of the ongoing war, as well as crises like the Beirut port explosion, economic collapse, and Lebanon's turbulent history. These letters are then transformed into short films, exploring the theme "What are you feeling right now?". The resulting films form a mosaic of diverse emotions and perspectives, collectively portraying the contemporary Lebanese experience. "Letters" transcends traditional storytelling, fostering empathy and solidarity within Lebanon and among global audiences.
Biography:
Mayssa Jallad is a singer-songwriter, urban researcher and historic preservationist based in Beirut. She released her first solo album “Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels” in March 2023. After grad school and practicing architecture in New York, Jallad returned to Beirut in July 2018 in order to embark on the challenge of transforming her architectural research into music, therefore living through all the multiple crises Lebanon has witnessed, and also engaging with the broadening political imaginary that the October 2019 uprising allowed.
Project:
“Marjaa” is a research-based musical project which experiments with writing music about the history of urban violence in Lebanon, given the (intentional) absence of an official history textbook about the Lebanese civil war. “Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels” is the first iteration of this project and is based on the thesis Jallad wrote in graduate school on the architectural preservation of a prolific urban battle which took place in Beirut’s luxury hotel district between October 1975 and March 1976. Jallad is planning for a European tour in December 2024, with her band, showcasing performance graphics by director Ely Dagher.
Biography:
Patrick Sfeir was born in Beirut in 1985. As a little boy, he tagged the walls of his room and painted animation characters on any surface he would come across. He earned a Masters degree in animation from the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA). He then gathered international experience at Borisfen-Lutece studio in Kiev, Ukraine. In 2013, he moved to Seoul, where he spent two years working in the renowned studio “Meditation with a pencil” as a 2D animator and character design artist.
In 2021, he initiated the program Marsam AlHakaya, an independent educational initiative in Animation Art.
He is currently residing in Beirut, teaching 2D animation and character design at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA) and Marsam AlHakaya, and still exploring the vast universe that pen and paper inspire in him.
Project:
Marsam Al Hakaya is an independent educational initiative in the art of animation in Lebanon offering a 9-month intensive program to a cohort of 6 students/year. As part of our second installment, we are adding a public program component in the form of shorter workshops to allow people of all backgrounds to have a deep dive into character design and 2D animation. We will host Samaka School, an organization affiliated with Samaka Studio in Cairo, Egypt, to give a 3-day workshop that is open to the public, followed by a 5-day focused workshop for our students.
Biography:
SNAKESKIN is a Beirut-based duo of visionary electronic dream pop, shapeshifting above ambient and industrial undercurrents. Their music is moody, unsettling, luminous – the culmination of a decade of collaboration and friendship between producer/musician/engineer Fadi Tabbal, and singer-songwriter/musician Julia Sabra from indie trio Postcards. Snakeskin’s sophomore album “They Kept Our Photographs” will be released on September 27, 2024, on London’s Mais Um label.
The duo’s critically acclaimed self-titled debut was released on October 14, 2022, as part of the Corrosion Series –– a collaborative effort by Portland-based label Beacon Sound and Beirut-based label Ruptured. Sabra and Tabbal began working on the record in the aftermath of the August 2020 port explosion, composing their first track 'Roots' for the Ruptured-curated series The Drone Sessions in the fall of 2020.
Project:
The fund is to support our fall 2024 tour in Europe between October 11 to October 21, 2024, where we will be playing our 2nd album in cities in France, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany.
Biography:
Joy Moughanni is a Beirut-based producer, engineer, and songwriter, and a partner at Tunefork Studios. Mentored by renowned Lebanese producer Fadi Tabbal, he formed the electronic and pop groups Pomme Rouge and Gizzmo, producing 4 EPs. Transitioning to a solo career, he became a sought-after production collaborator in Beirut. After the Lebanese crisis, Joy joined the 2023 OneBeat program, collaborating with artists like Nappy Nina, producing ambient hip-hop tracks, and collaborating on a MATA Festival installation. Joy's work explores sound in relational contexts, informed by his architectural studies and spatial sonic installations. Recently, he has performed live ambient sets sonically exploring personal and political manipulation.
Project:
“A Separation from Habit” album and workshop delve into the entanglement of personal and collective narratives within Lebanon's recent years of crisis. Centering on discovery and grief, the project navigates upheaval, social fragmentation, and intimate loss, emerging from archival soundscapes and the creative voices of contemporary musicians. It connects individual emotional residues with shared historical and political realities, transforming personal grief and discovery into a collective sonic experience. This work is a reclamation of heritage and an auditory exploration of the collective psyche—mapping the resonances of grief, discovery, and the complex interplay of collective distortion - an attempt to emotionally explore a shared distorted reality, as a separated form of reaction.
Biography:
Yara AL Khoury is a theater maker and poet whose work is based on movement as a poetic expression. After studying acting, she developed her skills in physical theater and dance techniques, training and performing with numerous local and international choreographers.
Yara's work as a performer includes her participation in projects such as Zoukak’s Pinocchio and Beirut Physical Lab’s Imprints. She has also co-published "Untitled: Collage and Poems on Paper" and staged several poetry readings that delve into the communal aspects of poetry performance and its capacity to foster human connection.
As an independent artist, Yara has collaborated with many cultural organizations as a facilitator, writer, and trainer. She strives to produce art that resonates on both personal and communal levels, valuing authenticity and humility in her creative process.
Project:
“If you feel lonely, take a walk. نمشي الشمس تحت وحدنا “ is a physical theater performance that explores themes of entrapment and loneliness through the inner journey of a young woman grappling with depression and anorexia, as she experiences time passing in her forced isolation at a mental hospital.
Work on this project began in November 2023, following the team’s selection for a research residency at Amalgam Studio. The project also benefited from residencies at Hammana Artists, House and Zoukak Theater.
Directed by Yara Al Khoury, the play features a solo performance by dancer and multidisciplinary artist Natasha Karam. Yara collaborates with scenographer Mara Ingea and light designer Antonella Rizk. Filmmaker Hadi Ibrahim is capturing the project's creative process, while Pamela El Hachem played a key role in the research and development of the concept.
Biography:
Baha' Souki is a visual artist based in Beirut, working primarily with pigment ink since 2016. Drawing on personal experiences, Baha's work explores human behavior and conceptions through a diverse range of mediums, including painting, photography, and video. His art invites viewers to reflect on subconscious memories and coping mechanisms. Since studying at the Lebanese University’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Architecture, starting in 2001, he has actively researched and experimented across multiple disciplines. This ongoing exploration has led to numerous group exhibitions and collaborations, both in Beirut and internationally. In 2022, he held his first solo exhibition in Beirut.
Project:
The project “Bread and Spring of Plastic” explores the transformation of my childhood landscape as industrial expansion erases the natural world around me. Through pigment ink, pigment ink pens, and colored oil pastels, I depict the fading presence of berry trees, olive trees, and gardens, as they face the looming threat of being overtaken by concrete and plastic. My work subtly preserves elements of the trees and land, drawn from memory and photographs, capturing the tension between nature and industry. The only remaining color is that of plastic, as the growing noise and machinery of industry increasingly surround me, reflecting this evolving reality in my art.
