Arab Media Lab association is launching a series of Crowd funding Campaigns in order to finance the creation and the establishment of a Media ART CENTER in Morocco. The first of its kind in Africa and The ARAB WORLD.

Your help, donation and contribution will mean a lot to us. You can give any amount you wish...

"To give without any concessions in return, we are asking for your trust. Circulate this project around you on social networks, office, family, friends ... Tell us all your comments, ask us any questions that come into your head. We believe that all projects feed exchange..." Thank you all for your support, your confidence, your encouragement and interest. This project was our own, today is yours, post it wherever you go.

Join us by email: info@arabmedialab.org / az.taleb@digitalmarrakech.org

Twitter: arab_media_lab

Facebook: Arab media lab

Our website: www.arabmedialab.org

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Why we need to build the capacity of Arab Media Lab

The thing that many people ask is how we have managed to achieve the quality of our activities with such a small budget. The answer is that the vision of the directors and their commitment, sacrifice and dedication along with the rest of the team has been able to carry out our ideas with a level of commitment and productivity that has produced the results that we have seen. We hope to get more support to keep this energy and productivity going. We have worked with a very tight budget, however the quality of our activities far exceeds the budget limitations we are working with. With funding for capacity building we believe that we can build a stronger infrastructure for the on-going programs such as the training and workshops held throughout the year, as well as the maintenance and expansion of the online platform and annual arts events that have been created by AML. Commitment and hard work is not enough to maintain our work in a long-term capacity and as we have expressed above, our work thus far indicates the need for a focused long-term commitment to continuing and expanding on the kind of work that we have thus far developed.

The infrastructure of the cultural sector in Morocco is limited and the services that do exist do not allow for the growth and development that is occurring in the media arts sector internationally. Also, establishing financial independence from governmental institutions will give our cultural project the independence that we believe is required. The local political strategies for culture has not yet adopted the idea that culture plays a major role in community development and redevelopment through job creation and improving the quality of life. There are no strategies to incorporate arts and culture into community development plans through grants, technical assistance, and financial or tax incentives.

Within this cultural vacuum, AML project became a very important cultural space in Morocco and the Arab world, and followers and beneficiaries of our events anticipate that we will continue with our work. Through our efforts we have created a platform that it did not exist before and we are dedicated to maintaining our work.

In order to ensure dynamism for our projects we had to create our own infrastructure for the project, a strong cultural infrastructure that can stimulate media arts production and to link up local creative forces with opportunities to develop their skills and interest.

Because our projects have received a great interest and participation from local and international artists and the public, we have managed to attract local and international media attention to our projects. And our collaborations with some local institution have helped to gain yet more visibility.

Although we have been able to achieve many successes in a short period and without major funding we believe that our initiative is a much needed one and is responding to a growing interest from young people in the region to express themselves creatively, openly and democratically.

While the AML initiative is quite known and recognized within the region and more broadly in the international digital arts community, there is little room for growth without establishing the kind of infrastructure that would be required. We would like to be able to expand our projects into the Gulf, and the Middle East. Financial and infrastructural support would allow us to spread the information and work of AML, which would give the project another dimension.

With the desired support we believe we could help to direct interest of the Middle Eastern society and cultural activists in the region towards our project that deal with audio-visual representations and contemporary Arabic media arts and digital creation, which we believe is a shared interest across the region. From the traditional to the most avant garde, sound and image have made it possible to create works that comprise a very broad area of experimentation and reflection, where technology, visual objects and rhythms are able to communicate the contemporary realities of Arab culture.

Through various projects we have curated over the years, we have helped to bring Arab media arts happenings to the surface, make it known to the world, and within the Arab region. We believe we can share our experience and strategy and we think we still have many things to give and achieve.

Capacity Building Plan

Establish a workspace for events, training, exhibitions and screenings

Since establishing the online platform and creating events and training programs to enhance media arts development, we feel that a permanent space is necessary to maintain and build on our work. Through our various initiatives we have established that there is much needed attention required in the field of media arts creation. Having to obtain rent-free spaces through in-kind and other support for our training programs and annual events is not a sustainable model. The flexibility that our own space would provide would allow us to not only fix our events calendar well in advance, but also to organise events spontaneously if needed, in the case where a lecture, workshop, screening or presentation would be beneficial to respond to events as they unfold in the region. Moreover, no such space exists in Marrakech and as the success of our previous events have shown, we do have the capacity and experience to carry out events and training programs for media arts practice.

Staff and services

As well as having a permanent space, our work would be greatly boosted if we were able to hire permanent staff. We have established a small and committed team that has been working mostly on a volunteer basis, or paid small amounts when we have had the means with the budget at hand for a given project.

www.arabmedialab.org

www.digitalmarrakech.org

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Arab Media Lab

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