ARAB CULTURE PROGRAMME

The Foundation supports numerous projects and events to raise awareness and understanding of Arab culture.

The British Museum: Arab World Education Programme (AWEP)

AWEP is working on three main initiatives: Arab Artists in Schools, Discover the Arab World Resource Pack and Teacher Training. The Artists in Schools project will be running in two schools in Birmingham in Summer 2008, and two in Bristol in Autumn 2008. AWEP has also just developed the Discover the Arab World resource pack, an innovative free resource for secondary school teachers, which will be available both online and in printed form. It is designed to support teachers in exploring relevant and challenging issues about the Arab world and to help them develop a greater awareness and understanding of Arab culture among their students.
Using 30 key objects in the British Museum's collection, Discover the Arab World supports teaching about Arab people and culture at Key Stages 3 and 4 in Art & Design, Religious Education, Citizenship and History within cross-curricular themes.

To make specific enquiries about the AWEP contact Mr Nicholas Badcott at nbadcott@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk

Offscreen Education Programme

Offscreen will soon be implementing its Creative Contact Across Borders project. The project allows young people in the UK and the Middle East to meet and to understand each other’s cultures. The KRSF is supporting the Middle East - UK and UK - Middle East student expeditions, as well as the production of complementary educational resources. The resources will be shared with schools in both the UK and the Middle East. In 2008, KRSF support will contribute to resource development and to bringing two Lebanese secondary students and one teacher to join in the Middle East - UK student expedition. The following years will see a gradual expansion to cover the remaining KRSF target countries.

www.offscreened.com

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art

BALTIC is shortly to implement its Middle Eastern Artists in Residence programme. Middle Eastern artists will conduct workshops with local school children, offering them a better understanding of the contemporary art of the Middle East. The workshops will be the basis for producing online teaching resources about contemporary Arab art, which will be supported by inset sessions for teachers. The programme will start in October 2008 and will consist of four residencies.

info@balticmill.com

Tate Britain

The Tate's Illuminating Cultures project will begin in January 2009. The project’s overall aim is to provide teachers with resources and knowledge that will enable them to inform students about Middle Eastern cultures and recent histories in their teaching of art, religious studies and history. Project activities include the development of resources for teachers, training of in-service teachers and school projects for pupils (Key Stages 2-5).

Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A)

In spring 2009 The V& A will be implementing its Arab World Family Learning Programme. The programme revolves around three main activities which include an annual family festival of Arab culture, a high-profile event celebrating dance, music, theatre performances and storytelling from the region; a networking and outreach initiative offering greater exposure to Arab culture; and the development of learning resources.