RCDF 2021 Brochure English

Curator & Cultural Advisor Photographer & founding member of the collective Shababeek for Contem- porary Art - Gaza cultural manager & Social Activist General Director of Al-Harah Theater Director of Popular Art Centre Managing Director of Culture Resource (Al-Mawred Al-Thaqafy) Alma Salem - Syria Shareef Sarhan - Palestine Basma El Husseiny - Egypt Marina Barham – Palestine Iman Hammouri – Palestine Helena Nassif - Lebanon She is curator & Cultural Advisor/ Director of the Syrian Women Political Movement. After dedicating two decades to Heritage protection, arts & Culture of the Arab world. Her bureau in Montréal offers a palette of international exhibitions & arts management advisory. He was born in Gaza in 1976. He is a professional Artists & photographer. He is a founding member of the collective Shababeek for Contemporary Art and a member of the Association of Palestinian Artists. Sarhan received his diploma in Arts from the University of ICS in the United States. He participated in Darat Al Funun Academy in Jordan, under the supervision of artist Marwan Kassab Bachi. He received the bronze award of the Festival of Arab Photographers in 2008 and the recognition award in 2007. Basma El Husseiny is a cultural manager, an activist for social change and a UNESCO expert in cultural gov- ernance. For the past 30 years she has been involved in supporting independent cultural projects and organ- izations in the Arab region. She was the Arts Manager of the British Council in, and the Media, Arts & Culture Program Officer for the Ford Foundation in the Middle East and North Africa, she founded Al Mawred Al Thaqafy (Culture Resource), she initiated and co-founded the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC), the region’s first independent cultural foundation. Basma El Husseiny is currently leading the organization Action for Hope, that was established in 2015 with the objective of addressing the cultural and social needs of distressed and displaced communities in the Arab region. In October 2018, Basma won the UCLG Agenda 21 for Culture International Award. Iman Hammouri is the director of the Popular Art Centre. She has a Master’s degree in Social Policy and Plan- ning in Developing Countries from London School of Economics. Hammouri is one of the co-founders of the Palestinian Performing Arts Network (PPAN) and currently a board member. She was also a member of the steering committee of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organisations (PNGO). Hammouri is a social activist and cultural advocate. She is active in several social and cultural endeavours. She presented papers on the role of the civil society and topics related to art and culture. She was a member in different juries for acknowledging art and cultural achievements. Helena Nassif is a multi-disciplinary researcher of culture. She is currently the Director of Culture Resource (Al Mawred Al Thaqafy), a non-profit cultural organization working on supporting arts and culture across the Arab region and with its diaspora. Helena received her PhD in Media Studies from the University of Westminster in 2015. Her career covers culture and media research to years in the non-governmental sector, the development industry, program design and evaluation, grants management, adult training, and television and documentary film production. Marina Barham is the co-founder and General Director of Al-Harah Theater and Chairperson of the Palestinian Performing Arts Network. She is an active cultural operator in Palestine, the Middle East and in Europe. She is a trainer in the field of Cultural Management in the Arab World. She produced & managed theater productions and the Palestine International Theater Festival for Children and Youth & Yalla Thaqfi Street Festival in Palestine. AlmaSalem.com