The Network for Cultural Outreach (NCO) represents a collaborative alliance encompassing Clown Me In, Yaraqa and YAZAN. Its primary objective is the decentralization of performing arts via sustainable touring throughout Lebanon, thereby fostering local and cultural tourism. This autumnal initiative will take place from September 21 to September 24 across Lebanese regions.
The NCO is mainly committed to the establishment of a robust, sustainable infrastructure for performing arts in Lebanon. By shifting cultural hubs away from urban centers like Beirut, the NCO seeks to engender year-round employment opportunities for artists and technicians, whilst rendering arts more accessible to several regions. Each meticulously curated NCO tour is designed to visit 3 to 4 disparate locations with little to no access to performance arts, bereft of regular performing arts access over a similar number of days. It is thus an attempt at decentralizing art and democratizing it for a diverse audience spectrum.
Clown Me In, a clowning establishment located in Lebanon, endeavours to democratize the realm of art, deploying it as a potent instrument for addressing societal challenges. Their forthcoming act, ClownVentures, unfolds as an episodic road trip where things take a different turn: six clowns embark on a whimsical journey aboard a clown-driven bus, culminating in a series of unforeseen comedic tumults. Through audience interaction, a joyful atmosphere, and an array of comical vignettes, the clowns find truth and humanity.
Yaraqa brings together dance and movement artists and other industry professionals to collaborate and create impact in communities through dance and movement and generate opportunities for artists through incubation labs, creative productions and development programs. Their project, Before You Go, is a walkable trail of contemporary dance performances, playing on the experience of feeling estranged in the familiar, and finding the familiar in the estranged. Scheduled for September 23 and 24, this program will witness ten illustrious artists from both Lebanon and Europe animating the streets of Mtein and Cornet Chehwan. By interlacing site-specific dance performances within varied socio-cultural backdrops, Before You Go metamorphoses common spaces into a boundless field of possibilities.
YAZAN, an eminent cultural association, champions the fusion of artistic productions, rigorous training, and tours in the fields of multimedia and performing arts. Their forthcoming repertoire includes the play Al Aadiloun, an adaptation of Albert Camus’s Les Justes, which delves into the psyche of radical revolutionaries embroiled in a scheme to overthrow a tyrant. Complementing this is a melodious concert of Arabic fusion entitled Minalshaab, featuring the talents of Youssef El Khoury and AKashic Matter.
For reservation: info@tourleb.net