Ashkal Alwan started in the early 1990s as the Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts, founded and directed by curator Christine Tohmé. After the war it worked on bringing art back into public space, and it grew into one of the main platforms for contemporary art and critical debate in Beirut. Its Home Works forum, launched in the early 2000s, gathers artists and thinkers for about ten days every two to three years. In 2011 it opened the Home Workspace Program, a ten-month study program that is free of tuition and takes 10 to 15 fellows a year. Fellows get a modest monthly stipend and shared studio space, which makes it a rare non-academic route for sustained art study in Lebanon. The program has operated from a warehouse space in Jisr el-Wati.
Ashkal Alwan at a glance
- Founded in the early 1990s as the Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts
- Home Workspace Program launched in 2011, tuition-free
- Takes 10 to 15 fellows a year with a monthly stipend
- Home Works forum meets every two to three years
Who is behind Ashkal Alwan
- Christine Tohmé (Founding director). Source: en.wikipedia.org