Goals and Mission of Arabelle Print

Arabelle is a foundation registered under the laws of Israel. It has been founded in the year 2005 by leading artist Abed Abdi and a number of distinguished personalities in Haifa. The mission of arabelle is twofold: Advancement of the visual arts in the Palestinian and Israeli societies, and the promotion of intercultural dialogue through the visual arts.


It is our greatest honor and pleasure to introduce you to Arabelle - the association for the advancement of the visual arts.

Below you will find a short summery about the association and its aims, as well as a description of its past and planned projects. We turn your kind attention to our special ongoing project, titled “Intercultural Creativity and Visual Arts Course” aimed at young people aged 10-18 from all religious denominations found in the Haifa region.

 Thank you very much indeed for your kind interest in our association, and for taking the time to read about our activities. Looking forward to greeting you among the sponsors of our association and supporters of our mission, we remain,

Sincerely yours, 

Abed Abdi,  Founder and President

Arabelle is a non-profit association that was founded in May 2005 in Haifa, Israel.

The mission of Arabelle is twofold:  Advancement of the visual arts in the Palestinian and Israeli societies, and the promotion of intercultural dialogue through the visual arts.

The aim in establishing the organization stems from the need to raise awareness for the visual arts among the various communities in Israel, in addition to prompting greater participation of members of the Arab community in the visual arts.

The visual art workshop of Arabelle also aspires to become a center for cultural meetings, aimed at strengthening the mutual understanding and tolerance among peoples.

 The creation of the association was at the initiative of the Palestinian artist and teacher Abed Abdi and a group of intellectuals and social activists in Haifa [see below.

 The creation of the association came to promote social and cultural ends, which are primarily related to the development of Arab Palestinian population of Haifa and its region. Our goals are:
Goals of the Association

 

  •    1. Development of artistic creativity and the advancement of the various artistic fields -such as painting, sculpture, graphic art and photography.   2. To create opportunities for those who posses creative skills and needs, and to give support to local artists working in the aforementioned fields.

  •    3. To support local artists also through the establishment of art galleries and exhibitions.

  •    4. Organizing artistic workshops for the members of the community; these workshops will also contribute towards promoting peace and tolerance in a city whose inhabitants are of diverse religions and national background.

  •    5. To promote cultural relations between the Mediterranean’s various peoples and cultures.

  •    6. To establish cultural and educational relations with artists in the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories (The West Bank and the Gaza Strip).

  •    7. The documentation of the human relations that exist between Arab and Jewish artist through organizing joint art galleries and exhibitions.

  •    8. To apply pressure on educational institutions in Israel in order to achieve equality for the Arab citizens and to satisfy their various cultural needs, such as the establishment of an Arab museum, the promotion art exhibitions and the awarding of scholarships.


             Our expectations are that these workshops will contribute towards the elevation of level of creativity and artistic consciousness among the participants, as the workshops will also include organized visits to artistic sites as well as hosting well known and distinguished artists.

 Arabelle is willing to collaborate with various governmental institutions and non-profit associations in order to gain support for this project.

 
Obstacles

 Here are some of the obstacles that we are facing and to which we would like to draw your attention:

 
   1. First, we would like stress the fact that all of our previous projects were carried out with our own individual efforts; we were not able to receive any support from government institutions, whose pretext was that registered associations can receive support from government only two years after the associations is formed.


   2. Arabelle does not posses its own center; temporarily we are using Abed Abdi’s art workshop in Al-Jabal ave. in Haifa. Having our own center will allow us to carry out many projects and to posses a wide staff.


   3. We are in need of special funding in order to carry out the aforementioned project as well as others. We ask for your kind assistance and support for our association and projects, which we looking forward to carry out with the help of a wide variety of volunteers and artists.


 Other Founders:

Mr. Rushdi al-Madi – poet and school teacher

Ms. Marian Abi Nader

Mr. Yussef Heidar – former head of Ibillin’s local council in the Galilee

Dr. Majid Khamra – director of the educational department in the Haifa Municipality

Ms. Shehadi Shehadi – director of a youth community center in Haifa

Mr. Salim Abu Jabal – journalist and writer

 

 

 
 
 
click here to read message of the Chairman of Arabelle