BEACONS
The Library at the Main Building.
WHAT A BEACON DOES
Thirty-eight years is long enough to become infrastructure. Darat al Funun today is not merely an institution that supports Arab art— it is part of the landscape that makes Arab art legible to itself. It has built the critical vocabulary, trained the researchers, published the histories, held the works, and offered the space. It has done so without competing for outside validation and without orienting itself toward a gaze that was never its own.
Their message to the next generation of Arab cultural leaders is characteristically direct:
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Let your voice be heard. Engage deeply with others. See with your own eyes and not the eyes of others. And work hard enough to make something that matters.
That is, in many ways, the foundation’ s own story— told in four sentences.
Darat al Funun – The Khalid Shoman Foundation is located in Jabal al-Weibdeh, Amman, Jordan. www. daratalfunun. org
This article is drawn from conversations with Luma Hamdan, Director, and Khaled Al-Bashir, Artistic and Cultural Director, Darat al Funun – The Khalid Shoman Foundation.
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