About the Project

Hiwar Fanni – which means artistic dialogue in Arabic – is a cooperation project on university level, set up for three years und supported by the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD – German Academic Exchange Service)

The following universities are taking part: Academy of Visual Arts (Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst – HGB)/Leipzig, Helwan University/Cairo, Damascus University and Lebanese University/Tripoly.

Eurient e. V., Leipzig, is responsible for coordinating the project.

The project's main goal is a long-term cooperation between the partaking universities, a mutual support in setting up artistic departments at the four universities, as well as the individual and artistic exchange between students and university members.

In a time of tense relations between Europe and the Arab world, as well as between the single Arab states themselves, a cooperation between artists from the different countries can create new perspectives, away from common prejudice and ongoing confrontations. The project will not be able to offer solutions for political and social problems, but rather show that approaching „the other“, and at the same time a critical and fair discussion with this „other“ are possible.

Each year a group of HGB students will go to one of the partner universities. In return they will welcome a group from the same university to join them in workshops in different art departments.

In addition, each year two students will receive a scholarship to study at one of the partaking universities and work on an individual project on the topic of „The Intercultural Dialogue“.

So far, our experiences from the stays in Cairo and Leipzig made clear that this intercultural dialogue cannot exist on its own, but needs efforts to be made on all sides.
Basic differences, cultural habits and a different artistic understanding proved to be very demanding for all the participants, in that it asked of them being ready to reflect on and criticise the own self, as well as accepting differences as part of an ongoing learning process.


Edgar Blume, Moritz Remé (eurient e.V.)