About

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is launching a second call to individual cultural practitioners affected by the consequences of the Beirut Port explosion to submit proposals for the development of cultural productions in the affected neighborhoods.

Objective

• This new call for proposals aims to reach the most vulnerable practitioners operating in cultural and creative industries as a matter of priority and assist them to revive their creativity through small emergency assistance grants. This second call target is to provide grants to at least 45 individual cultural practitioners, on an availability of funds basis.

Funding Information

• Proposals from one practitioner:

  • Maximum amount: US$ 6,000

• Proposals from two practitioners:

  • Maximum amount: US$ 8,000

Eligible Domains and Types of Activities

• Three domains will be given priority in this second call for proposals:

  • Intangible Cultural Heritage: refers to the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, and skills transmitted from generation to generation that communities recognize as part of their cultural heritage.

  • Intangible Cultural Heritage includes the following domains:

    • Oral traditions and expressions: these include but are not limited to variety of spoken forms including proverbs, riddles, tales, nursery rhymes, legends, myths, epic songs and poems, charms, prayers, chants, songs, and dramatic performances.

    • Performing arts: include but not limited to vocal and instrumental music, dance and theatre to pantomime and sung verse.

    • Social practices, rituals and festive events: include but are not limited to community activities that help to mark the passing of the seasons, events in the agricultural calendar or the stages of a person’s life.

    • Knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe: this domain includes traditional ecological wisdom, knowledge about local fauna and flora, traditional healing systems, rituals, beliefs, initiatory rites, cosmologies, and shamanism.

    • Traditional craftsmanship: skills and knowledge in producing craft objects.

  • Literature and press sector funding will focus in the sub-categories, authors and experts.

  • Heritage and tourism funding will focus specifically on tourism activities linked to the promotion of local tangible and intangible heritage.

• Proposals for the following sectors will be considered depending on the availability of funds:

  • Visual arts including photography, fine arts and crafts: Cultural productions supported by this project include, but are not limited to, local exhibitions, photography projects, fairs/festivals to promote traditional crafts.

  • Performing arts productions include, but are not limited to, theatrical, dramatic and musical productions, dance, performances and local fairs/festivals at neighborhood level.

  • Audiovisual and interactive media productions in the cinema subfield will be prioritized and supported.

Eligible Areas and Beneficiaries

• Vulnerable practitioners affected by Beirut port explosion:

  • Artists and cultural practitioners affected by the explosion.

  • Particular attention will be paid to the elderly, displaced persons, people with disabilities, refugees, and migrants.

  • Independent professionals, sole proprietors or freelancers.

  • Be practitioners in one or more of the targeted cultural and creative fields.

  • Have suffered in some way from the consequences of the explosion (creative spaces, work instruments and tools damaged or livelihoods adversely affected)

Eligibility

• Individual cultural practitioners must be based throughout the city of Beirut and in the municipalities adjacent to Beirut that are most affected and most vulnerable in socioeconomic terms.

• Eligible proposals include all activities linked to the creation, production, distribution and exhibition/dissemination of cultural and creative activities, and the transmission of skills and practices to safeguard local cultural knowledge, heritage, and crafts.

• Only proposals submitted by one or two practitioners will be considered eligible.

• Individual cultural practitioners who have received support under B5 project and during the first BERYT CCI call for proposal are not eligible for support under this call for proposals.

• Entities such as registered non-governmental organizations and associations are not eligible for support under this call.

Post Date: January 18, 2024