Cover image: ©Omar Alkilani, from the Official Music Video of the Track Smack That, by Refugee Music Orchestra, 2024, supported by Ettijahat - Independent Culture within the Laboratory of Arts Programme.

Over the past decade, increased socio-political challenges throughout the Arab Region have led to unprecedented migration to Europe, which is now “home” to diverse artistic communities looking to develop interconnected networks and inclusive systems of cultural and artistic production. However, the growing climate of xenophobia, the increasing intensity of right-wing rhetoric, the scapegoating of refugees for many consequences of economic inflation, and, most recently, the serious restraints on freedom of expression are contributing to a climate that inhibits the wealth and diversity of experiences that artists who have migrated from the Arab world in the last decade can bring to Europe. Such a climate hinders these artists from collaborating with their European peers and cultural spaces, and reduces the opportunities to engage communities of Arab origin in European public life and audiences. In response, cultural initiatives are increasing their efforts to support artists with limited resources and mobility rights and connect migrant artists based in Europe with European artists and audiences, hoping to challenge the growing waves of discrimination and stereotyping.

Within this context, GEZMATAZ (Genoa, Italy), MASAHAT for Arab Culture in Exile (Oslo, Norway), Transversal Project (Malmo, Sweden), VOCE National Center for Musical Creation (Corsica/France), and coculture (Berlin, Germany), in partnership with Ettijahat - Independent Culture (Beirut, Lebanon / Brussels, Belgium), have joined forces to launch RAWABET, a transnational project which aims to facilitate accessibility between European audiences and Arab artists based in Europe. The program aims to increase mobility and circulation and create opportunities for collaboration between Arab and European artists, especially around themes of refuge and migration. This network of collaborations also aims to empower the role of artists, cultural workers, and institutions in Europe, and their role in activating trans-diasporic and transcultural spaces, as we continue to reflect on what diversity and solidarity mean in practice.

Rawabet seeks to engage artists and cultural practitioners who have arrived in Europe from the Arab region since 2015 as well as established European artists interested in collaboration and exploring the themes of the project. This is established through designing different residencies, festivals, production grants, and recording and showcasing opportunities organized in Germany, Norway, Corsica/France, Italy, Sweden, and Belgium between 2024 and 2026ز The project's multi-faceted approach will offer a comprehensive support system for Arab migrant artists navigating the European art scene. Additionally, in order to achieve our aim and to empower migrant artists and support connections within their host communities, RAWABET will provide access to residencies that nurture creativity and collaboration, festivals that celebrate cultural richness, and showcasing opportunities that amplify alternative narratives.

RAWABET promises to be a vibrant celebration of cultural diversity, artistic talent, and cross-cultural dialogue, inviting stakeholders, artists, and art enthusiasts to join in the movement towards a more inclusive and dynamic arts community.

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Co-funded by the European Union, RAWABET is a transnational creation and circulation collaborative programme implemented over a three year period, to:

1. Contribute to the accessibility of European cultural spaces for the artists who moved over the last decade from the Arab region by rethinking these spaces as tools for facilitating cooperation, responding to questions about art and social innovation, and developing principles of fairness, solidarity, balance, and sustainability.
2. Design and test democratic approaches to cultural production which promote cooperation between artists living in Europe, and contribute to the formulation of more empowering narratives about the role of artists and cultural workers in European societies.
3. Contribute to bridging gaps, and enhancing cooperation and exchange between Arab artists, non-Arab artists, and audiences in Europe.
4. Offer new ways to facilitate access for European audiences to the Arab art scene in Europe and address refugee and immigrant populations through an artistic lens.