Culture and Heritage
FILM LAB
- Start of support: 2022
- Purpose of support: Supporting Palestine Cinema Days, an international film festival organized annually in October by Filmlab Palestine
- Category of beneficiaries: Supporters of the Palestinian cultural scene
CULTURE AND HERITAGE
Established in 2014, Filmlab Palestine has set the goal of promoting and reviving cinema culture in Palestine, with its vision of a professional, creative, and innovative film industry landscape. Filmlab’s philosophy is to create a new sustainable hub for creative local film production with a program contributing to networking, training, and educating film professionals and talents, realizing diverse, high-quality films and content for children. The accumulation of efforts is gathered in the annual Palestine Cinema Days festival, connecting Palestine with the regional and international professional film industry, promoting Palestinian cinema culture and building an active local cinema audience.
CENTRE FOR ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVATION – RIWAQ
- Start of support: 2021
- Purpose of support: Supporting the Tashgeel program, which aims to create job opportunities through restoration in various sites in Palestine
- Category of beneficiaries: Palestinian workers and historical buildings
CULTURE AND HERITAGE
Riwaq was set in motion in 1991 when a group of enthusiasts came together in an organized effort to save historic buildings in Palestine. RIWAQ’s mission is to protect, restore, and rehabilitate the architectural and cultural heritage in Palestine through its main programs: the Restoration Program, the Regeneration of the 50 Most Significant Historic Centers, and the Community and Cultural Program. Riwaq contributes to the production and dissemination of knowledge about heritage through its Research and Publications Program including the Registry of Historic Buildings in Palestine, and works, in collaboration with other actors, on building a conducive institutional and legal environment. Since 2001, Riwaq has restored more than 130 community centers and has provided more than 500,000 direct days of work on-site for Palestinian workers.
As an architect and product designer, learning the traditional crafts process to integrate and reinterpret it into contemporary pieces is essential. My participation in the “manufacturing traditional tile” workshop enlightened my hands, and I incorporated it into my jewellery design brand that focuses on the diverse Palestinian heritage, from flora and fauna to architecture and concrete. Aya Kirresh
EL-FUNOUN PALESTINIAN POPULAR DANCE TROUPE
- Start of support: 2016
- Purpose of support: Funding the dance troupe’s activities to contribute to preserving Palestinian cultural heritage.
- Category of beneficiaries: Promising Palestinian male and female dancers
CULTURE AND HERITAGE
El-Funoun Palestinian Popular Dance Troupe is an independent, non-profit organization that is entirely volunteer-based. El-Funoun was established in 1979, by several talented and committed artists. Since then, the troupe has been recognized as the leading Palestinian dance group with an impressive track record of over 1,500 performances locally and internationally, 15 productions, and tens of dance pieces. El-Funoun has won several awards from local and international festivals for its presentation of Palestinian folklore and contemporary culture through elaborate choreographed forms that embody its unique vision of Palestinian dance. The troupe is widely recognized as the cultural entity that has played the most significant role in reviving and reinvigorating Palestinian dance and music folklore.
Taif Nazzal, dancer in El-Funoun, age 19:
“Training with El-Funoun Dance Troupe give us dancers the space to do what we love and allows us to share our thoughts, which is something rare to find these days. I also like how El-Funoun takes interest in us as individuals and I love how it is a space for me to meet others, which is an incentive for me to always want to come to dance training and want to give my best and give back to this space”.
BETHLEHEM DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION
- Start of support: 2023
- Purpose of support: Funding the exhibition of Palestinian culture
- Category of beneficiaries: Palestinian culture and heritage
CULTURE AND HERITAGE
The Bethlehem Development Foundation is a Palestinian non-profit organization founded in 2012, the institution seeks to achieve goals through a 25-year master plan focusing on sectors such as energy, waste, economy, and culture. The organization’s mission is to promote sustainable development in Bethlehem, transforming it into a vibrant tourism destination while supporting the improvement of the economic and social well-being of the local community