In the year 2019, Fe-Male partnered with the Swedish Institute on a regional project that included Lebanon, Yemen and Jordan. that the project aimed at promoting gender equality through artistic and culture expressions and capture the positive changes in the region in terms of gender equality and women participation and inclusion. Shortly after the “October 17” Lebanese revolution exploded, a three-day extended meeting (November 2019) was held in the premises of one of the partner organizations in Jordan, namely Ahel Organization, through which ideas and a unified theme for an art competition were suggested. The three partner countries agreed to launch an art competition titled “Equality needs Work” each in their country, in which artistic submissions were accepted to participate in capturing any improvement in or significant change towards gender equality. Since Lebanon was witnessing the largest revolution in its modern history, calling for social and economic justice and challenging the corrupt system, and where women were in the frontlines leading this rightful uprising, Fe-Male suggested relating the art work to the current context in the country, highlighting women’s important role during the revolution.
In January 2020, and through a public announcement both on Fe-Male’s social media accounts and offline in different universities and revolution squares, the art competition was launched under the title “Women of Lebanon and Revolution”.
Up until February 2020, as many as 40 applications were received, varying from posters, paintings, videos and documentaries. After thorough examination of the applications by a specialized team of artists and gender experts formed by Fe-Male, three pieces were selected and granted financial support for production: one documentary, and two paintings.
The selected documentary by Arthur Sarradin, “THAWRETNA” The women’s fight told by women, was the first of its kind long documentary in Lebanon that highlights the important role and fight of Lebanese women in the frontlines of the 17th October revolution, from a feminist perspective.
