ورقة مفهوم حول موسيقى الزبالة/English
Name of the Organization
Rabab Luxor
Title of the Proposed Project
The Garbage Music
Potential Donor
Context
Upper Egypt is known to be one of the most marginalized and alienated parts of Egypt. Egypt’s centralized model of development, have made the Upper Egypt (aṣ-Ṣaʿīd) people amongst the country’s poor with the least developed public services (health, education, culture etc.).
Society at large in Upper Egypt, and especially women and youth, suffer from marginalization and exclusion. This feeling is further exacerbated by the dominant conservative social norms and culture which is drawn around hard gender lines, and little tolerance and acceptability of difference. Girls and boys face restrictions on their abilities to self-expression and self-exploration. Youth and women, specifically those working in art business face social pressure and stigmatization.
Art and culture policies, like their sister economic policies, also suffer the same centralization, which makes Upper Egypt marginalized on the cultural level. This translates in little to no public support to local art initiatives and projects.
On the ecological level, Egypt in general and Upper Egypt in specific have increasingly moved towards a service and rentier based economy. Over the last decades’ increased reliance on tourism, coupled with the absence of a comprehensive and sustainable environmental policies have damaged the environment. This is very clear in the case of Luxor, for example, which has historically relied heavily on agriculture for its livelihood. The dramatic shift from a society of producers to a society of consumers, i.e from agriculture to tourism, joined with the quasi absence of local environmental contingency plan based on sustainability, proved very expensive on an environmental and human levels. This has been translated into a surge in the Nile river pollution levels, a crisis in solid waste management, and the transformation of agriculture lands into lands at the service of rent developers.
One of the major stumbling blocks to environmental sustainability in Egypt, alongside the absence of environmentally just policies, is the country’s educational system, which fosters only rote learning. This translates into low public environmental awareness and engagement.
Rationale for the Proposed Project
In the low-income community in Luxor, children face marginalization as a result to their mere belonging to Upper Egypt; a part of the country that has been among the most alienated from most of development efforts in Egypt. To this, the children in Luxor, and in Upper Egypt face a subpar education, where art is marginalized and treated as secondary at best. Moreover, the uproar of children, especially girls, in a conservative environment that draws hard gender lines around social expectations and gender expressions (such as the one dominant in Upper Egypt) restricts children’s abilities for self-expression and self-exploration.
Our project provides a model for bringing arts closely to those marginalized children. By making music available to one of the most vulnerable groups in society, children and girls in specific will be provided with an opportunity to discover their voices in a safe space for creative self-expression that will allow them to claim and enjoy their cultural rights and to promote a culture of freedom, diversity and steadfastness.
In the long term this opportunity will help children to foster perseverance, discover courage to initiate personal and collective change, to increase their levels of confidence, articulation abilities, creative capabilities and to foster curiosity to learning.
Children, who will be playing and producing music with these instruments made by recycling garbage, will also be delivering a strong environmental message to the community and stakeholders. By turning trash into art, children will be able to inspire alternative waste policies, habits and practices. Through the program music will be used as a tool to advance environmental sustainability, and creative waste management as a mean to empower marginalized children.
Project Goals
- The project will contribute to the development of a local community that is aware of, and concerned about, the environment and its associated problems, and which has the knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivations, and commitment to work individually and collectively towards solutions of current environmental problems.
- Developing the awareness of children and local community of the environmental problems, and of the economic and cultural potentials that reside in recycling waste.
- Supporting social inclusion through enabling marginalized children’s artistic and creative expression through music and musical instruments making.
- Enabling children to use their creative and artistic skills to improve their wellbeing, and the wellbeing of their community.
- Building an environment of safety and trust where the confidentiality and rights of all participants are met.
- Participating in empowering marginalized children especially girls by providing cheap tools for free expression and creativity.
- Promoting art and music as tools for social change for marginalized individuals and communities.
Project Objectives
PO1. Engage 36 participants (50% Girls 50% boys) in educational activities reinforcing values of:
- Connection
- Communication
- Respect
- Sharing
- Partnership
- Safety
- Trust
- Team Building
- Self-Confidence
- Accepting differences
- Resolving conflicts
- Inclusion
- Refusing Bullying
- Dealing with anger
- Confronting fears
- Innovation
- Participatory education
- Critical thinking
PO2. Engage 36 participants (50% Girls 50% boys) in environmental activities, developing the awareness about environmental problems, and of the economic and cultural potentials that reside in recycling waste.
PO3. Enabling 36 participants (50% Girls 50% boys) to use their creative and artistic skills to produce cheap tools of free expression.
PO4. Promoting music as tools for free expression among 36 participants (50% Girls 50% boys).
Project Strategy
Organize a regular training through outreaching marginalized children, boys and girls, between the age of 12 and 16 years old in Luxor city in Upper Egypt.
Candidates will be trained on social skills, creating musical instruments through recycling garbage and playing music using them. Furthermore their awareness will be developed about environmental problems, and of the economic and cultural potentials that reside in recycling waste.
Over the course of 4 months, 12 new children will learn, through a designed curriculum, and through fun, playing, and experimentation about social skills; environmental sustainability; how to create musical instruments through recycling; how to play music; and to share their creation with the world through public music performances.
24 senior participants will engage in an advanced training in two rounds of 4 months each.
Project Activities
- Act 1.1 Design a basic and an advanced curriculum on social skills.
- Act 1.2 Provide basic and advanced activities on social skills.
- Act 2.1 Design a basic and advanced curricula on environmental problems, and of the economic and cultural potentials that reside in recycling waste.
- Act 2.2 Provide basic and advanced activities on environmental problems, and of the economic and cultural potentials that reside in recycling waste.
- Act 3.1 Design a basic and advanced curriculum on creating different kinds of musical instruments through recycling waste.
- Act 3.2 Provide basic and advanced activities on creating different kinds of musical instruments through recycling waste.
- Act 4.1 Design a basic and advanced curriculum on playing music using instruments made by recycling waste, as well as on performing art.
- Act 4.2 Provide basic and advanced training on playing music using instruments made by recycling waste, as well as on performing art.
Expected Results
- ER1.1 12 new participants trained on basic social skills.
- ER1.2 24 senior participants trained on advanced social skills.
- ER 2.1 12 new participants trained on basic knowledge about environmental problems, and of the economic and cultural potentials that reside in recycling waste.
- ER 2.2 12 senior participants trained on advanced knowledge about environmental problems, and of the economic and cultural potentials that reside in recycling waste
- ER 3.1 12 new participants trained on basic way to create different kinds of musical instruments through recycling waste.
- ER 3.2 24 senior participants trained on advanced way to create different kinds of musical instruments through recycling waste.
- ER 4.1 12 new participants engage on basic training on playing music using instruments made by recycling waste.
- ER 4.2 24 senior participants engage on advanced training on playing music using instruments made by recycling waste.
Innovation
There are plenty of initiatives that are active in the field of art education and other environmental projects that target youth and children. However, the uniqueness of the Garbage Music project resides in its adoption of an intersectional approach to development that bridges art education and environmental awareness.
Organizational Background
Driven by passion for music, art, love of experimentation and co-learning, Rabab Luxor is an art organization started by a group of artists from Upper Egypt in 2017. Our aim is to spread art all over Egypt. We are an organization that is democratically and independently run.
In 2018 we started phase 1 of The Garbage Music Project.
Our initial plan was to train 12 participants in phase 1. However, because of the high demand on the project, which was manifested by a flood of children, boys and girls, willing to participate; we decided to accept 36 participants, half of them girls and half boys, to not riposte anyone, even if it means tripling the effort of the team, which works almost voluntarily and receives only symbolic remuneration due to our dependence on a seed fund.
We now aspire to sustainability, and looking for phase 2, which includes, each year, training 12 new children and continuing to train at least 24 children who attended phase 1 and wish to continue for an advanced training. Sustainability also means giving fair salaries to the team, preparing our space and providing it with the materials, tools and equipment that allow for the project continuity.
Estimate Budget
60,000.00 €
Contact Information
Rabab Luxor
rababluxor@gmail.com
Contact Person
Gehan Shaaban
Cultural Programmes Manager
gehan.shaaban@gmail.com