Mimeta is pleased to highlight the publication of the Create Syria report and toolkit, documenting a pioneering programme that supports Syrian artists working in exile and in host communities affected by the Syrian crisis. The publication is now available via Ettijahat – Independent Culture and the British Council, who jointly lead Create Syria, with additional support of Mimeta.
About Create Syria
Create Syria is a collaboration between Ettijahat – Independent Culture and the British Council that seeks to increase the capacity of Syrian artists and cultural actors to contribute to stronger, more cohesive communities through community-based arts initiatives. The programme supports individual artists, collectives and community organisations to design and deliver artistic projects that respond to the lived realities of displacement, uncertainty and social fragmentation.
Building skills, networks and resilience
Through practical training, mentoring and production support, Create Syria helps artists develop both artistic and organisational skills, expand their professional networks and learn to work sustainably in new contexts. The programme has supported dozens of initiatives since 2016, with projects engaging thousands of participants in Lebanon and across the wider Syrian diaspora in activities ranging from theatre and music to visual arts and community storytelling.
Art, social change and artistic freedom
Create Syria places artistic freedom, social justice and community participation at the centre of its methodology, recognising artists as key actors in healing, dialogue and social cohesion in times of crisis. The new English-language publication distils lessons from these experiences into a practical resource for artists and cultural organisations who wish to use art as a tool for social change in fragile and repressive contexts.
Mimeta’s partnership with Ettijahat
Mimeta has long partnered with Ettijahat – Independent Culture to strengthen independent culture as a cornerstone of a plural, diverse and artistically genuine Syria, where culture is an inalienable right for every citizen. Through programmes such as Create Syria and Sanad in the Digital Realm, Ettijahat and Mimeta collaborate to protect artists at risk, amplify censored voices and promote safe spaces for artistic expression.
Read and use the publication
The Create Syria English report and toolkit can be downloaded from Ettijahat’s website and is intended for artists, cultural practitioners, NGOs and community organisers working with displaced and host communities. Mimeta encourages partners and peers across the cultural and human rights fields to use and share this resource, and to continue investing in artistic practices that defend freedom of expression and open civic space.
Download here!
