AL's Sarah Boiling takes audience development to Damascus
The trip was facilitated by the British Council and consisted of two days contributing to an international cultural management course followed by a lecture at the Damascus Higher Institute for Dramatic Art and a master class at the Syrian Opera House.
The cultural management course included delegates from Syria, Egypt, Oman, Jordan, Palestine, Morocco, Algeria, Yemen and Mauritania. The arts workers were keen to share their achievements and learn how to could apply arts marketing principles to their very different situations (censorship and secret police....).
The course was organised by Al Mawred Al Thaqafy (Culture Resource) a non-profit organization based in Cairo that supports artistic creativity and creative exchange in the Arab region. Running since 2006 and previously taking place in Marrakesh, Amman and Algiers, this annual cultural management course for delegates from across the Arab world is always heavily oversubscribed.
The course took place in Gallery Mustafa Ali, a traditional Damascene house in the old city, that is now a sculpture gallery, arts venue and simple hotel.