The Cultural Corridors of Peace project - which ran from 2018 to 2020 - aimed to promote and safeguard the living heritage of Bedouin communities in Lebanon and the wider Levant. The wider purpose was to help Bedouin communities to tackle prejudices and discrimination against them and to increase awareness of their cultural identity and the ecological and economic value of their traditional practices. Living memory, customary practices, and expressive culture play an essential role in the life of the Bedouin, but this cultural heritage is under threat.
The project has helped to ensure that the Bedouin of Bekaa (Lebanon) have the opportunity and the means to stay connected with other Bedouin. It has introduced Bedouin cultures to an international audience, and highlighted the significant risk of the Bedouin losing their identity and ceasing to exist as a distinctive cultural group. The project has helped the participating Bedouin to promote their voice and gain recognition for their contribution to society and for their concerns.
The project was funded by the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund, in partnership with the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport. It was led by INHERIT and delivered together with our partners the American University of Beirut, the Council for British Research in the Levant and Coventry University's Centre for Trust, Peace & Social Relations.
A series of resources are now available online, including:
An Open Access Archive & Mobile App
The Open Access Archive is an online resource containing photographs, videos, audio recordings, texts and other materials produced by the project. Its primary function is to provide Bedouin from different countries and regions with a new way of sharing their common, but diverse, cultural heritage. Training is being provided to a number of Bedouin volunteers who will maintain the archive, with support from INHERIT and the American University of Beirut.
‘The Bedouin Woman’ online exhibition
With this online exhibition we aim to present the Bedouin woman in her own words and as someone who does not imagine herself as a victim or dependent of governing structures of her patriarchal society, but as an agent of her own life and the life of her children.
‘No Future Without Past’ documentary
A documentary filmed during the 2019 Regional Gathering which saw Bedouin communities from Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine travel to Wadi Rum, Jordan, to celebrate their shared heritage during a 3-day gathering.