From 4 to 6 November 2025, the partners of the Mawjaat project gathered in Alexandria for the first major milestone of this cooperation on the southern shore of the Mediterranean. Over two days, creative hubs and cultural actors from Algeria, Egypt, France, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia refect on the foundations of a collective project for the next two years.
Conceived as a space for experimentation and social innovation, Mawjaat is a project coordinated by La Friche la Belle de Mai in Marseille, in close collaboration with the french cultural network abroad. It is built on a community of creative hubs, third places and independent cultural spaces located on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, engaged in cultural, social and ecological transitions. The word Mawjaat evokes both the Mediterranean as a shared space and the waves of change carried by these places: spaces rooted in their territories, open to experimentation, civic participation, new governance models and more sustainable economic models.
A first gathering in Alexandria
Hosted by B’sarya for Arts, a major cultural space in Alexandria, and the Institut français d’Égypte, the kick-off meeting marked the first gathering of all the project’s partners. This working session enabled participants to get to know one another, to share their local contexts and challenges, often shaped by political, economic or social instability, and to reaffirm the essential role of cultural spaces as drivers of transformation and key supporters of artistic practices. Representatives of the five pilot creative hubs — B’sarya for Arts (Alexandria), Collectif Tchebbek (Algiers), Beirut Art Center (Beirut), Tatmin (Rabat) and the L’Blaça collective (Tunis) — presented their histories, practices, objectives within the framework of Mawjaat, and the challenges they face in the years ahead. Multiple shared development issues emerged, including economic sustainability, community engagement, shared governance, ecological transitions and the capacity to shape new cultural narratives.
Building a shared vision towards 2027
Through a collective intelligence workshop, participants imagined what they want Mawjaat community to become by 2027. This process led to a shared vision: “We are a transnational ecosystem of cultural actors exploring innovative models of creative practices in order to build more sustainable movements (mawjaat).” This vision highlights the project’s ambition: to go beyond simple networking and foster a living ecosystem based on cooperation, experimentation and the sharing of knowledge.
On-the-ground projects and a research-action at the heart of the programme
The kick-off meeting also provided an opportunity to present the experimental projects that will be implemented in each country. Whether focused on the transformation of spaces, support for artistic creation, the diversification of economic models, the structuring of cultural ecosystems or the development of new governance approaches, all these initiatives aim for long-term impact at both local and regional scale. At the same time, Mawjaat relies on a research-action led by Lieve Wijman, in partnership with Iméra (the Institute for advanced study of Aix-Marseille University).
What’s next?
This first gathering in Alexandria marks the beginning of a serie of workshops, meetings and experimental initiatives that will take place until 2027 across the partner countries. Through this process, Mawjaat seeks to strengthen cultural cooperation in the Mediterranean around transitions challenges and to highlight arts and culture as drivers of inclusion and transformation.
