9 Elfalaky Street - Raml Station - Alexandria
Alexandria
Egypt
- Arts
- Democracy and community development
- Heritage
Eskenderella for Cultures and Arts is an independent culture organization that started working in 2005 to
activate the role of art as a social engine and a catalyst for group's memory supporting rights and freedoms of local and popular society with special character in Alexandria. Registered first as an association- NGO in 2008
under number 2318, it began its works as a group of Alexandrian artists and those who are interested in culture,
arts and development. it was founded in 2005 with the background of previous artistic and cultural cooperation between its members and other artists from Alexandria , Egypt or abroad since the early 1990 s .
Eskenderella`s aim is to be a guide for reform and illumination , consolidating the creative and tolerant soul of Alexandria as well as regaining the human values on which the city was built and by which it has survived . And in 2012 announced also as a LTD company- Non profit Organization.
Vision:
Toward the city of Alexandria multi- cultured and socially open.
Mission :
1- reducing the gap between the creator and the audience.
2- providing cultural service sectors culturally for deprived sectors.
3 - spread and promote and support cultural rights and freedoms.
4 - Activating the role of art as a stimulant and as an archive of the social collective memory and as a guide for reform and enlightenment.
Our Strategy :
Eskenderella works in all its activities on a very important strategy from it:
- Completely partnership with the local community with all it sectors and the people not just as a Beneficiary but as a partners in planning and implementing also saving their traditional popular or their special whatever in culture heritage and support the initiative spirits and citizenship by positive and productive way .
- Continuing Field events to connect directly with the people and qualify new local spaces to cultural artistic work.
-Caring by the local areas with special characteristics: as Bahary , Koum Eldekka in Alexandria and an open filed work to artistic and creative cultural work due to their Social and cultural needs
Specific Aims:
*revive the artistic heritage to the artist of people Sayed Darwich by annual way in Koum ElDekka
* adopting the local initiatives with save the old cultural heritage
* qualify a public open spaces for cultural diversity in Koum El Dekka .
* raising awareness by the cultural freedoms and rights
*raising awareness to youth by these rights and freedoms.
Activities and projects:
* Menwarin (welcome):
Cultural Social artistic activity based on the host of the people to numbers of cultural events in their places and to provide concerts from Alexandrian and their memories of the place and present a lot of art, educational workshops to children in these areas like origami, drawing, theatre plays making books and decoration of the traditional ceremonies like Ramdan`s decoration , and Menwarin through lights on those popular areas social specificity and celebrate their heritage, specificity or those areas or community groups that suffer from problems requiring interaction with and participation in it by displaying it by using arts and social community dialogue, which supports the role of art as a motive and guide for social reform and enlightenment ,and social preservative to the heritage .
* Alby Album ( My Heart is Album ) :
Documentary artistic activity work includes research and compilation, documentation and analysis of the images of personal Alexandrian families through their volunteering participation with their albums and photographs which is helping on documenting and collect the Alexandrian heritage which represents the city's history and a part of this artistic heritage is a personal photo and the reinstatement of its role in personal, social life, and keeping personal and group memory, and includes the rehabilitation of the profession of photographer , photo shops old and a confirmation of role of the people to participate in keeping the city's heritage
and personal memory of its people and the program includes a range of activities (Exhibitions, and dialogue sessions rings, workshops for children, prints, selling souvenirs, electronic documentation ).
* Baheb Elcima ( I Love Cinema ) :
Cine- cultural activity depends on restoration of the cinema as a component of everyday life , restores the role of cinema as an archive of collective memory, the mirror of reality and the concerns and dreams of the people, and perform movies from people`s choice in collaboration with a number of artists and those interested in cinema and cinematic memory Alexandria and human heritage and includes several activities, including:” Alley Cinema " where present movies in open public social spaces such as cafes, lanes & allies and houses with the allocation for children and women in their places, and “Alexandria Plateau” and its object movies about Alexandria, or a place to be photographed, and through that a dialogue go about Alexandria in particular as a artisticdocumentary research about Alexandrian life, its visual social cultural art memory and focusing on Alexandria cultural role by its artists and cinema creators and the development happened on the city and the human relation by the place and the time line links between them.
*Hakawina (our stories) :
Socio-cultural project works on support the role people in preserving their cultural heritage and social memories through personal storytelling and arts, and sharing it with the community involvement and display
them in the social interaction areas, such as the popular cafes and social clubs and some evenings had been implemented in collaboration with the director and writer Nora Amin within projects ( Hakaya regional Forum) ongoing work and creative with the elderly in areas of Bahary and Koum ElDekka to tell their personal memories and stories in open perform evenings in popular cafes areas in Koum el Dekka & Bahary and give opportunity for people to tell their stories and memories, and as a means of simple and creative express and
amiability place and their memories and its legacy and attempt to document the groupal memory andsave the place heritage and culture of his people.
Ahalina ( our people) project:
A social culture and artistic project which aims at promoting the value &concept of citizenship in youth through acknowledging heritage, local diverse and marginalized culture in the society and connecting youth to it and to its positive values which through shedding light on its richness and special character will strengthen youth affiliation to their country& local communities and increase their culture and social awareness and emphasize positive values
and the most importantly societal values, concepts of citizenship and acceptance of others and social and cultural pluralism and affiliation of the national culture and activate their role in the advancement of society. The project is implemented with the support of the Foundation for the Future and in partnership with a number of institutionsand human rights organizations, cultural and social development.
Hypathia’s Forum for Culture Rights and freedoms:
Hypathia’s forum started as a series of interactive research and discussioncircles working on raising awareness with culture rights and freedoms between activists working in the field of culture and rights and a number of volunteers and people from local areas in Alexandria.
Later on it was developed to become Hypathia’s forum for culture rights and freedoms which works on cultural pluralism and establish the concept &values of cultural justice and viewing Culture and arts from rights and freedoms Perspective and configure a defense mechanism to protect and defend the culture and arts as a right for artists and community together.
In this year, the forum had discussed the following topics:
A-The right in culture which will be discussed through the following topics: the concept of culture, human rights framework for the exercise of culture and protection both in the domestic and international legislation, and an example of the issue: the protection of the cultural heritage of Alexandria which will be viewed through an applied workshop: How to protect the right in culture?
B- Human rights culture which will be discussed through the following topics: the culture of the society and human rights culture and the unity rejection to it because they are foreign or forbidden, art and culture as an entry point for the deployment and support of human rights, for example: Graffiti Revolution, the Alqorsiah island and Masaken El Sohaleya, which will be viewed through an applied workshop: how to use arts and culture to defend and promote human rights?
C- Cultural Justice deals which will be discussed through the following topics: the concept of cultural justice, which connects between the community and culture in the context of rights, the right to cultural pluralism and social defense protecting social culture and freedoms through society's role in protecting the cultures, field trips, which will be viewed through an applied workshop: How to achieve cultural justice community linking culture and freedoms?
* Participate with your creation Project ( 2007-2008) :
Cultural artistic social environmental project worked on the development of youth social participation of and support the role of youth in the community areas Dekhela , Qabbary and Wardian of Alexandria and Helwan in Cairo, in cooperation with Naseej initiative Community Youth development with the support of Save the Children U.S. and in collaboration with the Society of Environment Friends in Alexandria and the Egyptian Society of Economic Rights and social and youth center of Dekhela,where 120 young men, girls and children were trained on the skills of drawing,
sculpture and mural painting , photography and works to save the environment and recycling is to produce a number of art works . Decorating and cleaning number of areas , fences and murals in Dekhela,Wardian and Helwan areas from youth work and beauty and cleaning and forestation those areas and prepare hall equipped for youth cultural, artistic and social activities.
*Art of Reform Project 2008:
Cultural project technician social supports the role of art in reform and societal change Sayed Darwish model cities of Alexandria, Cairo, Minya, in collaboration with theAssociation of Jesuit, Frere and Awttar & Alwan mokattam Cairo,Gudran of Art and Development in Alexandria and the support ofthe Freedom House program of a new generation, through the project been trained 180 young man and a girl on the arts photography and on the principles of volunteerism and initiative and positive participation inspired by the songs of Sayed Darwish as a model for art in support of community issues and reform and liberalization and they have to take to the streets and popular areas to take pictures and works of art this revelation and set up a number of exhibitions and concerts in three cities in the popular areas in Kom Deka, Mokattam in Cairo and Alexandria and the city of Minya and cooperation with the people and institutions of civil society and art institutions and development in those areas.
* IBn El Balad ( the son of country ) 2009 -2010 project:
Cultural art project has been implemented social areas Koum ElDekka and Dekhela and West Alexandria and
relied on the link between the generations of young people and the elderly and cultural holders heritage and popular culture.In order to support the role of youth in social development and cultural heritage preservation and singing, storytelling,tales and popular sayings,positive social values and connect young people to their regions and their heritage and culture and the production of a number of technical presentations and speaks of the trouble and the inspiration of the music of that culture and service the people of the region and the development of the spirit of volunteerism and initiative, and is configured team of folk music from the young to those areas the team( Ibn ElBalad) and was released albums of their own and songs popular collected as configured team told of
young people with adults from the inspiration of heritage places and has been action film documentary drama about the concept of the country and the role of the son and the work of young art gallery as well as a ocumentary
photography art gallery with local products and fishing nets, including Art business Arced and paper arts and painting
with the kids and the project was supported by the save the Children U.S. initiative Naseej
Our Facebook Page : https://www.facebook.com/EskenderellaForCulturesandArts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Eskenderellaart
YouTube Channel : http://www.youtube.com/EskenderellaArts
Website : www.eskenderella.org
Networking
sharing experiences and resources
benefit more knowledge , networking , new partnrs , common projects and action in arts and humanrights especially cultural rights and freedoms and communties devolping