{"id":444,"date":"2022-05-10T14:41:26","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T14:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.collectiveroutes.org\/ebtedy\/?p=444"},"modified":"2023-08-01T17:45:29","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T17:45:29","slug":"independent-content-creators-a-cultural-industry-on-the-rise-in-lebanon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.collectiveroutes.org\/ebtedy\/2022\/05\/10\/independent-content-creators-a-cultural-industry-on-the-rise-in-lebanon\/","title":{"rendered":"Independent Content Creators: A Cultural Industry on the Rise in Lebanon"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By: Ebtedy Admin | 10 May 2022<\/p>\n

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YouTube and Spotify as Sites of a Flourishing Cultural Venture During Gloomy Times in Lebanon<\/strong><\/p>\n

By 2020, television and the radio had already exited my life. They were replaced by occasional planned movie nights or background music for work picked randomly from YouTube. Being confined at home during the pandemic pushed me, like many people, to seek new ways of passing the extra free time in a meaningful manner. I wasn’t a big fan of podcasts until a friend sent me a few interesting podcast episodes made by Lebanese during the 2020 confinement. I was impressed by the engaging, entertaining, and educational content. That is how listening to podcasts and watching YouTube channels became gradually part of my routine.<\/p>\n

The confinement was also partially responsible for boosting the quality of online content. In Lebanon, the pandemic, political and financial crises were the motivation behind some outstanding online cultural initiatives. Afikra, Sard\u00e9 (After Dinner), Heritage and Roots, and Kabs\u00e9 are online channels that flourished during these austere times by producing quality content and stimulating unconventional narratives using popular online platforms such as YouTube and Spotify.<\/p>\n

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Afikra\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>is a cultural initiative that I particularly like. Their content is filling a gap in mapping and documenting the contemporary arts and culture scene in the Arab region and providing alternative readings of its interlinked and diverse histories. Drawing on our innate human curiosity, the Afikra community asks intriguing questions and presents complex information in a simple yet captivating way. Their conversations make academic content accessible and engaging to an expert and non-expert audience. Afikra is a colloquial near-eastern expression meaning ‘on second thought.’ The platform incites conversation on a variety of topics like history, geopolitics, music, literature, pop culture, and culinary culture. Mikey Muhana began activating the Afikra’s network in 2014 through live events in New York, where he was living at the time. Shortly after, the community grew to become a worldwide network of volunteers organizing local in-person events across continents. In 2020, Afikra gatherings moved online and Muhana, by then based in Lebanon, took the work of Afikra full-time, which made the online platform grow exponentially and reach a wider audience within two years. On Afikra’s Youtube channel and podcast platform, you can get to meet the Lebanese writer\u00a0Lina Mounze<\/a>r<\/u>, contemplate a revisited reading of Lebanon’s history with Professor of History and Arabic Studies,\u00a0Ussama Makdisi<\/u><\/a>, and listen to renowned filmmaker\u00a0Mai Masri<\/u><\/a>\u00a0discuss her work and processes, and much more.<\/p>\n

Afikra conversations, music, and presentations are available on\u00a0YouTube<\/u><\/a>\u00a0and the podcast is available on Afikra\u00a0website<\/u><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Apple Podcasts<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n

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Sard\u00e9 (After Dinner)\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>podcast carries a different style of conversations in a setup resembling a casual after-dinner chat among friends. Hosted by\u00a0Mouin Jaber and M\u00e9d\u00e9a Azouri<\/u><\/a>, the Sard\u00e9 podcast succeeds in capturing the spirit of a Lebanese chill gathering habit lost during the pandemic due to social distancing. The couple invites guests from all walks of life to a casual and laid-back get-together recorded in their dining room. Sard\u00e9’s guests include filmmaker\u00a0Nadine Labaki<\/u><\/a>, controversial businessman\u00a0Carlos Ghosn<\/u><\/a>, and\u00a0The Art of Boo<\/u><\/a>\u00a0cartoonist\u00a0Bernard Hage<\/u><\/a>, among many others. The thread that links all Sard\u00e9 conversations is the attempt to address sensitive topics less likely to be discussed in traditional media. Sard\u00e9 After Dinner diffuses an intimate cosmopolitan Beiruti ambiance reflecting the interests, yearns, and aspirations of a social class rarely depicted in media in such an unpolished way.<\/p>\n

Sard\u00e9 Podcast is available on\u00a0YouTube<\/u><\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0Spotify<\/u><\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0Apple Podcasts<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n

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Animated by history teacher Charles Al-Hayek,\u00a0Heritage and Roots<\/u><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is a YouTube channel dedicated to covering Lebanon’s rich and diverse cultural heritage. I got to know Al-Hayek as a guest of\u00a0Sard\u00e9<\/u><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Afikra<\/u><\/a>. Al-Hayek’s initiative is filling a gap in the documentation of intangible traditions and revealing the potential roots of these traditions. Such efforts to document Intangible Cultural Heritage in Lebanon are scarce and not supported by the state. Heritage and Roots clips include the stories of less-known historic sites in Lebanon. Powered by Al-Hayek’s passion and enthusiasm, history on this channel is an engaging and entertaining subject that triggers your curiosity and makes you want to know more. Al-Hayek tells a story in a 1 to 2 minutes video clip highlighting information that one might otherwise have to spend two to three days researching to acquire. How\u00a0did the coffee drinking habit<\/u><\/a>\u00a0reach Lebanon and beyond? Is there a link between ancient\u00a0fertility rituals<\/u><\/a>\u00a0and the monotheistic religious sites of Lebanon?\u00a0Karshuni<\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0is a Lebanese word for gibberish, where does this word come from and what does it originally mean? These are some of the questions Heritage and Roots attempt to answer.<\/p>\n

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Kabs\u00e9<\/a>, or the (light) switch, is a podcast shedding a bright light on the city of Tripoli and its human, social and cultural wealth to replace the traditional unflattering portrayal of the city by traditional media. Kabs\u00e9 interviews Tripolitans figures creating amazing cultural work contributing to the city’s inner glow. On Kabs\u00e9 Podcast and YouTube channel, you can meet the\u00a0Fayha Choir’s<\/u><\/a>\u00a0Maestro\u00a0Barkev Taslakian<\/u><\/a>, engage in a deep conversation with rapper Mazen El-Sayed, aka\u00a0El Rass<\/u><\/a>, and be introduced to stand-up comedian\u00a0Mohamad Baalbaki<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kabs\u00e9 is available on\u00a0YouTube<\/u><\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0Spotify<\/u><\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0Apple Podcasts<\/u><\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0Google Podcasts<\/u><\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0Deezer<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n

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During the Lebanese civil war, theatres remained open. I grew up listening to countless stories of performers crossing demarcation lines to rehearse and perform. Today, cultural formats and mediums have changed and the current challenges are different, but what remains unchanged is the attitude of creative Lebanese who manage to initiate new cultural phenomena and operate with no governmental support. They work with what is available to them, building on their passion and knowledge, and rely on their audience’s appreciation for financial sustainability. Once again, the Lebanese individuals’ initiative takes on the role of the government in creating fertile grounds for creativity and knowledge to flourish and thrive during the darkest of times.<\/p>\n

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By:\u00a0Jana Al Obeidyine<\/strong>, a dancer, writer and independent publisher based in Beirut- Lebanon.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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