Al-Bustan Award for SWANA Artists

Al-Bustan Award for SWANA Artists offers three artists or ensembles a $2,000 stipend, space, mentorship, and full presentation at Cannonball 2024

FIX ME by NÜT Dance Company / Almanac (Wide Eyed Studios)

This opportunity is funded by Cannonball donors and generous support from Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture.

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO APPLIED!

‘24 Al-Bustan Panelists

  • Leila Delicious

    Leila Delicious is a Palestinian burlesque performer and performance artist based in Philadelphia. Her work exists at the intersection of queerness and Palestinian decadence, and has been shown in Cannonball Festival, Radical Acts Festival, Burlesque n Beyond and the Philadelphia a Burlesque Battle Royale.

  • Philipe AbiYouness

    Philipe AbiYouness is a Lebanese-American educator, writer, and theater artist who has taught workshops in devised theater and storytelling at schools and community orgs in New York, Boston, New Jersey, and Beirut, Lebanon. He is the programs coordinator at Al Bustan, Seeds of Culture as well as a poet with works published in New England Review, Mizna, Gulf Coast, and elsewhere.

  • Fadi Skeiker

    Fadi Skeiker is a circular artist. Sometimes you'll find him directing, sometimes writing a book, sometimes leading workshops with Afghan refugees, then writing an opera in Portugal, and then something else that can't be known yet. He's a father and a Professor of Theatre at Fordham University.

  • Sam Tower

    Sam Tower (she/her) is a theatre director, curator, and cultural producer of Lebanese and Irish descent based in Philadelphia. She is a Co-Artistic Director of Ninth Planet and a Program Manager of Cannonball. Sam has dedicated her 15-year long career to creating and producing experimental works of performance focused on women, queer people, people of color, children and families.

Apply to Al-Bustan Award for SWANA Artists

This is an opportunity for SWANA artists, ensembles, companies or collectives to create and present new full length works of any performance discipline (45-70 minutes). Three selected artists will receive dramaturgical and creative mentorship, rehearsal space and additional marketing from partner organization, Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture, whose mission is to celebrate and honor Arab arts, culture and tradition, affirming Arab American cultural identity within broader society. This opportunity is panel-adjudicated, and requires additional application questions.

Who is this track for?

  • Artists of Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) descent, or companies/ensembles led by artists of SWANA descent who are creating new, full-length works of performance are encouraged to apply.

  • This award is focused on artists in the Greater Philadelphia Area, however, out of town and international artists will also be strongly considered.

  • Given Al Bustan's mission, it will be important for us to ensure space for the work of at least one Arab artist or ensemble.


image credit: Tiny Witch by Izzy Sazak (Wide Eyed Studios)

Review Process

Submissions will close on April 16, 2024. Due to tight timelines for scheduling performances at our venues, we cannot accommodate late submissions. Selected artists will be notified by May 10, 2024. Artists will be selected by a peer panel of performance-makers and producers from Al-Bustan and Cannonball communities. We strongly encourage artists to submit work samples with their application.


MERIT: Does the work demonstrate an attention to craft and discipline? What does the work inquire? What is it in conversation with?

IMPACT: Is this track necessary for the artist? Does the stipend provide the artist with the opportunity to present new work that could otherwise not be presented? How much impact would the stipend provide for the artist presenting this piece?

RISK: What does the artist envision through this work? What artistic risks are involved? Is the work pushing forward on form, content, or political/social discourse?

REACH: Is the work grounded in an inclusive worldview? Does the work connect to a broad community, foster ongoing dialogue, and expand Arab and/or SWANA representation at Cannonball Festival?

Al-Bustan Award for SWANA artists is a competitive opportunity that includes: 

  • $2,000 stipends for three selected artists

  • Dramaturgical support from Al-Bustan Program Coordinator Philipe AbiYouness

  • Rehearsal space at Al-Bustan’s University City hub space

  • FringeArts Festival registration, a 50-50 ticket split, in addition to all of Cannonball’s other production services at no cost

  • Additional marketing support from Cannonball and Al-Bustan, and optional one-on-one conversation with a Cannonball producer about how to make an impact at the Fringe

Questions? Feedback? Contact us at admin@thealmanac.us.
This is a new program, so we want to hear from you!