About
In 1987, trailblazing Palestinian band ‘Sabreen’ expanded into Sabreen Association for Artistic Development as a non-profit, community-based organization to promote music and other artistic expressions within the local Palestinian arts community. The Association is an organic growth from the Music Band Sabreen and continues to follow the vision of its founders; change through music.
Currently, Sabreen operates as one of the foundational music centers in Palestine, serving as a safe space for capacity-building for individuals and a hub for artistic development, exhibitions, workshops, festivals, and organizations from various artistic backgrounds. Sabreen's focus lies in providing technical, production, and artistic support to beneficiaries from the initial stages of recording songs or musical compositions to the final product. Through a professional network of musicians, facilitators, and artists who believe in the significance of creative arts, Sabreen has managed to streamline their contributions to the social, cultural, and economic empowerment of artists, students, and educators through artistic production, education, technical efficacy, and distribution.
Sabreen aims to be the instrument through which it can influence the development and implementation of national policy and apply creative leadership to Palestinian issues. The arts not only add an important and unique dimension to our lives, but we have found that arts are a concrete social development asset, as well, enhancing Palestine’s abilities to attract artists, building livable communities and giving Palestinian communities a competitive edge in its positioning amongst the cultures of the world. For Sabreen, its achievements, when shared with the community, ensures the continuity of Palestinian culture as a “living culture”. The association strives to reach a wider range of the society including the most underprivileged seeking to enhance the understanding of music and its role in the development of our society's culture. Sabreen Association has focused its work on aiding local artists into manifesting their talents and providing opportunities in artistic fields.
SABREEN ASSOCIATION FOR ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT
History of the Association
As Sabreen Band’s productions increased, having toured many countries and participated in several local and international festivals, it became apparent that Sabreen could also be involved in cultivating an environment that is nurturing for music and art. As part time teachers and volunteers at summer camps, Sabreen’s original band members gathered hundreds of children and teenagers and worked with them for several years, developing the children's group called “Bidayat” and establishing a music center in Jerusalem. Later in 1992, with the help of a fund from UNICEF, they established a recording studio; a two room premise where all of the teaching, training, and recording took place. Within this framework of thought, the group evolved into Sabreen Association for Artistic Development and focused on creating programs that enhanced music productions on one hand while also building competencies in music on the other.
In 1996 Sabreen held a 12-month training course in Jerusalem within the Musrara on sound and light, graduating sound and light technicians for the national TV, leading theaters, and event management organizations in the area. Similarly it held training sessions for kindergarten teachers in Birzeit that spanned 6 months, helping the teachers develop music activities for their classes despite not being musicians by profession. Later on in 1997 and 1998, Sabreen worked with several groups in the old city of Jerusalem, Hebron, Ramallah, and Nablus. They worked with them on how to introduce music on a community level so that music becomes part of summer camps, youth activities and women initiatives; working with social workers, community workers, educators, and youth leaders.
In 1999 Sabreen organized the first conference on music education. In cooperation with the Ministry of Education, the British Council, and the Ford Foundation, Sabreen Association helped bring forth the teaching of music in both schools and the community at large to discussion. The two-day conference included leading music and art organizations in Palestine, Norway, England, Ireland and Sweden. It also involved the Ministry of Planning and the Ministry of Culture. This Palestinian experience was also shared amongst music education institutions worldwide, including Guildhall University, Goldsmith University, Limerick university, and the ISME (International Society for Music Education) conferences in 2002 and 2004.
The association’s work, be it music productions or building competencies, became more significant when the Ministry of Education adopted and approved one music session per week in all schools. Even though the decision was instrumental to the development of music in schools, it was not realistically applicable considering the number of music teachers in 2001 was 19. That being said, the ministry’s desire to foster music development, paired with Sabreen’s ability to help realize such an ambition, developed a partnership between Sabreen and the Ministry of Education to provide teacher training, community music workshops, summer camps, and community music activities.
Ever since the conference in 1999, a partnership was established between Sabreen Association for Artistic Development and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aiming to facilitate the execution of music based programs such as training workshops for teachers, musicians, youth and adults, children’s performances, school concerts, festivals, and summer music camps. This partnership was maintained across a 15 year period that saw Sabreen implement, evolve, and conclude their Music for Everyone project which ended in 2017.
Now What?
Despite the importance of talent and creativity, the question remains: Are these sufficient for creating a broad, successful artistic movement? Although the Palestinians have made great strides in the world of culture and music, much remains to be done. The next step is to provide the infrastructure necessary for production, publishing houses and possibilities for recording and organizing performances. Progress can only happen through a comprehensive national strategy that reinforces a complete circular ecosystem for the modern Palestinian artist. This would include cooperation amongst all relevant governmental and non-governmental organizations, paired with the partnership and distribution of roles amongst stakeholders – including schools, universities, cultural centers, and publishing and distribution companies – to ensure a common vision and overcome whatever challenges may arise. The collaboration of educational, media and production institutions should be emphasized alongside consistent communication with other Arab and international cultures in order to maximize reachability and sustainability. Additionally, legal institutions must dedicate more resources to the entertainment and artistic sectors to protect creative rights to writing, publishing, and distribution. The above are preconditions for a complete artistic circle that nurtures an environment rife with creative opportunities and establishes a sustainable infrastructure to both encourage and support artists in their creative endeavors.
Explore our Projects
BizerBatteekh
Bizer Bateekh (Watermelon Seeds) is Sabreen's inaugural project under the Jerusalem Art and Production Consortium- Preserving Palestinian Culture
Sufi performances
Teacher Percussion Training
The aim of this project is to produce and promote a unique Sufi artistic production to preserve Palestinian identity.
The project aims to enhance music education in Jerusalem's Waqf schools by creating a 12-month percussion training program for non-specialized teachers.
