Tandem Amwaj: a wrap-up from Al-Badil

In early 2023, as part of a global vision of Al-Badil and Tandem Amwaj, the idea was born of a transformative initiative that aims to empower young professionals working in the fields of culture and creative industries, encompassing artists, creatives and cultural entrepreneurs. The impact experiment of the Al-Badil was to give the opportunity to youth to cultivate personal and innovative projects that revolve around local heritage in various artistic fields.

In the timeframe of twenty months and in five regions across Tunisia, Al-Badil collaborated with youth organizations to cultivate creative projects rooted in cultural heritage. Five standout projects were awarded funding, enabling them to come to life in local communities.

In five regions across Tunisia, we launched an initiative to support young people in connecting with and celebrating their cultural heritage. Here’s a brief overview of the impact:

Djerba Moves: A festival combining dance, music, and theater with a focus on ecological themes, benefiting 150 young participants and featuring 3 local artists across 3 heritage sites in the island of Djerba, recently classified as a UNESCO world heritage site.

Treken Project: In southern Tunisia, a collaboration with local musicians to explore and showcase traditional music. This included 90 beneficiaries, 5 artists, 3 cities (Gabes, Kbeli and Gafsa), and 3 podcasts documenting the experiences.

Pause-Art: In Nefza (Beja), workshops in various artistic fields engaged 37 young artists and students, with support from 4 trainers, revitalizing creativity in underserved neighborhoods.

Prepare the RE/pas: Spanning 3 cities (Nabeul,Zaghouane and kairouan), this project combined culinary arts and performance, documenting 4 traditional culinary techniques, with a performance event in the works.

TRækin Circuit: In Le Kef, a cultural and artistic circuit connected 40 children to their intangible heritage through 3 artistic training workshops and visits to 2 heritage sites.

In total, more than 300 participants have benefited from these activities, showcasing the depth of engagement and the enthusiastic response across the regions.

Tandem Amwaj programme was a civil society-led project co-designed, and implemented by 4 partner organisations (Tandem programme alumni) in the MENA region working on creating safe and creative environments for independent narrative discourses. By supporting culture-led engagement actions and actors, this program aimed at promoting civil society participation in local development practices, growing a space for different forms of expressions and sense of belongings to be performed despite the pressuring contexts (political and economic) across Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.