Peace of Art Launched free online Guitar classes, made by our Irish member Dan Wehlan, in response to the COVID crisis, lessons are available on Peace of Art Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/peaceofart

Berlin, 30 July 2020. The second Social Art Award Ceremony, presented by the Berlin-based Institute

for Art and Innovation in collaboration with Lebanese organization Peace of Art, honored the final

winners. Last night, on 29 July 2020, an interested audience from 15 countries as well as organizers

and jury members came together to cherish and discuss the stimulating artist contributions in the field

of Social Art, under the topic Peaceful Revolutions.

Three artists won the Social Art Award:

Narcissa Gold (USA), Melinda Mouzzanar (Lebanon), Bogna Grazyna Jaroslawski (Poland/Germany.

Furthermore, Kingson Kin Sing Chan (UK/Hong Kong) received an Honorary Mention.

After the insightful presentations by the organizers and awardees, a lively exchange on how to

invigorate the rise of Social Art started. The goal of the organizers is to build a community and establish

a vivid dialogue regarding the importance that artists can play in creating a positive transformation in

the world.

Social Art aims at creating a social impact. Artists are visionaries, utopists, agents for change, with the

ability to affect society by creating emotionally captivating experiences. It is an aesthetic revolution

that preludes the societal revolution. The focus diversity of 558 submissions to the open call of the 2nd

edition of the Social Art Award shows that artists are active in the multi-faceted fields of socially

engaged art reflecting on wars, genocides, femicides, traumata, violence against refugees, children,

women, men, disabled people, LGBTQIAs, and animals. Sharing feelings for the planet and its living

species, some works also show hopelessness due to complex crises be it climate change (e.g. in regard

to water pollution and scarcity), capitalism, corruption, violation against human rights, nature, or

protected national parks. It’s not only about peaceful revolutions, but it is also about feeling a deep

connection and showing love and respect for each other. Many of the artists are constantly trying to

give a voice to the poorest or empower unheard social groups. Their interventions are started from an

artistic point of view, but often are developed in social innovation projects.

The mission behind the Social Art Award is to explore this field of Social Art. Furthermore, the award

focuses on strengthening the recognition of social artists, valuing their work and, eventually

highlighting the importance of Social Art for societies and the global community. The Social Art Award

is an independent and not for profit initiative by the Institute for Art and Innovation e.V. and was

initiated in 2017

An amount of 2000 euros was collected as part of the donation campaign carried out by "Peace of Art" and "Projekt 009". The money was sent to our team in Lebanon, where food items were purchased, for 50 food parcels as a first part, with the aim of delivering them freshly, especially as They contain bread and foodstuffs that need to be cooled and stored,

these kits will be distributed exclusively for families affected by the bombing in Beirut, and the distribution will gradually be completed in several batches, also diapers were added later for children within these rations.

Pictured below is the content of each portion and the price list we were able to obtain.

Many thanks to everyone who supported and contributed to this donation.

Lebanon has witnessed one of the most horrific human catastrophes on August 4th, 2020. More than 170 lives were lost, over 6000 were injured, and more than 300 thousand were displaced as their homes were destroyed in a disastrous explosion in Beirut.

From the first moments after the explosion, youth were the first to grab their shovels and brooms, group together to help remove the debris from Beirut's streets and from the houses of the victims, helping everyone in need, when the government was not competent to deal with the situation. The lack of action and resources allocated by the government and municipalities has been always evident in various situations and incidents around Lebanon, including the fires that burst out in the South of Lebanon, the fires that also burnt Bekaa's oldest natural trees in Harbata and Hermel, floods in Ras Baalbeck... Youth were always there to provide help and support and to take the role, filling this gap.

Our volunteers in Peace of Art have been part of providing the first support when needed, helping removing debris and cleaning the streets of Beirut after the explosion, and launching a fundraiser to support the affected families and victims.

Our volunteers were always on the frontlines and are playing a huge role in relief support. Today on the International Youth Day, Peace of Art is dedicated to support our volunteers and launch a relief support team with all youth who are motivated to support their community. This team's objectives will be to:

- Allocate resources and tools to support in emergency situations.

- Deploy a team of volunteers to aid in situations like fires, natural disasters, armed-conflicts, pandemic...

- Deliver humanitarian Aid to victims and affected individuals in emergencies.

- Create data platforms to help link NGOs, first-aid givers and suppliers to victims and affected individuals in neglected areas.

We are launching our call for volunteers for youth to join our response and relief preparedness team, in the following link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfY52eEW8EIAS_2NoFixbI_mf94NhWrbNqV3L-PIQ9Z5RSeVw/viewform?usp=pp_url

We believe in the power of youth to bring change and to be active citizens contributing to their communities.

#international_youth_day

Peace of Art launched the project “We Play for Peace” supported by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations through its Youth Solidarity Fund, 2019-2020 edition. The project included training community sports coaches on conflict resolution through sports, as well as Yoga and Volleyball for youth to break the barriers between youth from different backgrounds.

Peace of Art launches the “We rise through Art” project in Beirut, funded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The project aims to secure psychosocial support through Art for children and youth affected psychologically and physically from the explosion that rocked the capital Beirut August 2020, the project includes many exercises in psychosocial support, art and drawing, rhythm and music, drama, dance and sport, in addition to various trips and recreational activities.

Peace of Art launched its TOT to train our civil trainers on the "Peace Leadership and Nonviolent Communication" methodology which was developed to be implemented within Peace of Art's youth programs.

Friday: November 6, 2020

Peace of Art launched the "Art Against Violence" project in four regions: Kaa, Fakiha, Al-Ain and Arsal. This program is funded by the Public Affairs Section at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.

The project includes the training 6 types of fine arts: drawing, photography, filmmaking, piano, guitar, and theater , also civil training including conflict resolution, peace building, conflict mediation, peaceful coexistence, leadership skills .... for youth between 14 and 29 years old. It aims to enhance the capabilities of talented youngsters and support them to stand against violence through their art.

we have always followed all protocols and precautions related to the Covid-19 pandemic and raise the awareness among all our beneficiaries and working team during all our projects . These precautions included social distancing, wearing masks, continuous ventilation and sanitization of the rooms before and after training sessions, hand over sanitizers and personal protective equipments to all students. In addition, we ensured that everyone abides by the procedures. Note that the organization has started the preparations of all trainings to be online. This is in compliance with the Supreme Defense Council decision and in order to preserve our continuous programs and trainings.

On Tuesday, October 27th, 2020, ARBEIT UND LEBEN Sachsen organized a workshop entitled “Art and Culture in Peace Building and Political Engagement of Young Migrants”. The event took place the Dresden Foreigners Council and was led by Mahdi Yahya (CEO of Peace of Art Lebanon) and Abdulaziz Bachouri 9 Director of Fair integration Project.

In the first part, the participants first discussed the terms peace, war and conflict with Mahdi Yahya. Afterwards, possible solutions were worked out that help to recognize a conflict and to come to a peaceful result in disputes. In the second part, Abdulaziz Bachouri showed possibilities for political engagement by migrants in Saxon society.

We thank the Federal Agency for Civic Education for financial support.

On Tuesday 6th of October, Peace of Art organization has started implementing the initiative “Line Up Live Up”, or “Al Haraka Baraka”, organized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). This initiative is based on the trainers’s guide that was prepared within the program in the organization’s court in Al Fakiha. Young men and women from several nearby villages have participated in the training to build life skills through sports in order to enable them to deal with the demands of daily life and what they involve of stress factors and conflicts between people.

4 December 2020

MTV hosted, on its program “Sunday Talk” in the presence of the artist “Carole Samaha”, specifically in the “Woman of the Week” segment, the president of the “Peace of Art” NGO, Ms. Vera Al Mawla,due to the positive impact that ''Peace of Art" did in the last 4 Years in the Baalbek-Hermel region.

18 December 2020

The Peace of Art Association celebrated the International Day of the Arabic Language, making this day a small step to open new classes for Arabic calligraphy.

13 December 2020

Peace of Art has organized an entertainment trip within the psychosocial support project "We Rise through Art", funded by the UNESCO Office for children in Karantina area, who were directly affected by the explosion.