TERDAD Youth concludes with a celebration of the arts for the students
The Terdad Youth Project ended this past weekend with a closing festival celebrated by school students who took part in the initiative, along with the artistic associations that have accompanied the pupils over the course of the project, with the mission of providing Global Citizenship Education (GDED) through various forms of art, under UNESCO’s flagship initiative Li Beirut.
Gathered at the Beirut Annunciation Orthodox College, the participants attended “Flee”, a play by Karim Chebli and Kathy Younes, from the Zoukak Theatre Company, which worked with students of this school as well as students of the Ecole Secondaire des Filles de la Charité. The play, based on Hunger and Thirst, one of Eugène Ionesco’s late plays, reflected the current socio-political situation in Lebanon and the dilemma of staying or leaving. It was followed by a discussion with the audience and the students.
The festival also featured the screening of 4 short films, produced and directed by the students of Makassed Khaled Bin Al Walid and Makassed Ali Bin Abi Taleb, under Metropolis Cinema Association, and the supervision of four renowned directors: Bachir Asmar, Farah Shaer, Elie Khalife and Feyrouz Serhal.
It concluded with a performance by Samandal Comics and Irtijal association for music, a simultaneous drawing and music concert. Rami Tannous, Carla Habib and Shakib Abu Hamdan performed live drawing on the rhythm of music played by musicians Maysa Jallad, Farah Kaddour and Hani Manja, in collaboration with students from the Ecole des Trois Docteurs and Makassed Ali Bin Abi Talib College.
Li Beirut is an international flagship initiative launched from Beirut by the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, in the aftermath of the explosions, on August 27, 2020, to support the rehabilitation of schools, historic heritage buildings, museums, galleries and the creative industry, all of which suffered significant damage in the deadly explosions.