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Budding Libyan artists showcase talents in arts festival

Budding Libyan artists showcase talents in arts festival

Libya

Young and upcoming artists including musicians, painters and photographers have showcased their talents at a special arts festival in Tripoli, Libya the first of its kind in the northern African country, organisers said.

The ‘Anamel’ arts festival is part of a special project which involved selecting a group of artists who then underwent two-month intensive training with professionals who volunteered their time.

“This project was launched in 2016 and focused on talents including writing and acting. There are three stages. The first stage is the evaluation of the participants to figure out their standard, the second stage, which took two months and had 40 participants including men and women, is to practise their skills, and the third stage is the festival,” said festival supervisor, Amany Touroum.

Some 100 musicians, photographers, painters, Arabic calligraphers, singers and dancers competed for a place in the project, organised by the student-led volunteer initiative called ‘Khotwa’. organisers said Only 40 made it to the final round.

Khotwa was founded in 2015 by high school students who also organise workshops and other activities to promote cultural development in Libya.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea, after I asked around about what it was about, I really liked the idea, the first of which we see here. For the first time someone is training young talents to exhibit their work. I honestly really like this idea, and I hope we see more and more of it in our country,” festival Visitor, Shahd Mohamed said.

Organisers say nearly 500 people attended the two-day festival on October 7-8, sponsored by local and non-profit organisations.

Widespread lawlessness in Libya as a result of the revolution of 2011 and a civil war in 2014 has taken a toll on cultural life.

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