Qisetna in 2024

The team of volunteers at Qisetna have been tirelessly planning this years schedule of projects and campaigns. From London to Tunisia to Buenos Aires to Istanbul, Qisetna has projects brewing to platform arts and culture from ordinary people to preserve their cultural identity and create an invaluable archive of Syrian experience.

Volunteer Spotlight: Ali AlMatroud

Ali Al Matroud is from Raqqa in NorthEastern Syria who has provided his valuable time and skills to Qisetna since 2021.

He first joined Qisetna to support with translation for interviews Syrian artists in Arabic. He then moved on to project management, namely leading the organisation of our project Return to Tenderness in 2022/2023. This was an important project which brought together the Arab and Kurdish communities, contrasting their customs, traditions, songs and musical instruments to learn experiences from one another and connect through arts and culture. The project also included a liaison between young and old musicians, teaching people how to use digital technology such as video recording to support the preservation of music and artistic heritage in Syria. This ultimately aims to revive the cultural heritage of our Syrian ancestors for the coming generations, transferring musical knowledge from older generations to younger.

Another project support by Ali is Action for Hope. This project involves bringing together musicians of the older generation who are experienced in traditional Syrian musical instruments such as the Rababa, Zamara, and Daf. Taking place on the Euphrates river, their skills and musical expertise were recorded with the aim of passing their experience down to younger generations and preserving the heritage of these traditional instruments.

Ali's skillset have allowed for the smooth and successful implementation of these influential projects. With his connections to artists and individuals in Syria and support as a translator we have had the ability to drive huge progress towards the preservation of Syrian heritage and grow Qisetna's positive influence.

Plans for 2024

Qisetna has a number of projects in the works for 2024. These include furthering our liaison between Al Sharq University in Raqqa to implement workshops and activities to support their campus. Qisetna is also partnering with a number of UK universities to profile Qisetna's work to create links between the Syrian diaspora and potential activism, research and development opportunities. This includes internships for students interested in anthropology, migration, politics and the arts.

Qisetna's editorial plan for 2024 includes a series of interviews with artists and musicians in Syria, storytelling workshops, consolidating research from researchers accross Europe on Syrian heritage, providing internet access to the local community in Raqqa, and profiling other elements of Syrian culture including food and religion. Qisetna will also continue to contribute to academic journals, providing key first hand sources to support research into the Syrian diaspora.

Caravas Arts

We are pleased to announce that Qisetna is now a subsidiary of the wider organisation Caravas Arts. Caravas Arts is a wonderful organisation aiming to give voice to disenfranchised individuals and support activism in these areas through artistic workshops for adults and children.

Projects by Caravas Arts include: Flying Dreams of our Future - an ongoing creative workshop focussing on the impact of plastic pollution, and Brixton Labrynth - a creative workshop in Brixton Market examining the correlation between autism and heritage.

Please visit Caravas Arts to learn more about their exciting upcoming projects!