This year has definitely been challenging for all organizations. As a new non-profit, we have been busy setting up the strategies and partnerships during the course of 2020 and supporting musicians through the Delia Arts Center in Gaza and our core programs. The “LIVE FOR GAZA” was an online event that we were eager to launch to mobilize the local and international communities to join forces in support of the musicians in Gaza.
The Delia Arts Center opened in Gaza in April 2020 and our team has been working tirelessly in Gaza directly and from our homes in different corners of the world to make sure that the musicians we welcome at the Center are given what they need. They have access to a friendly rehearsal space, a recording studio and core programs such as Delia Sessions, training programs and other projects that address the gaps we found in the music field in Gaza.
Leading to the online event “LIVE FOR GAZA”, we focused our efforts on bringing in the international community to experience the beauty of Gaza in Palestine and to recognize the abundance of talent there is away from the problems that the media usually portrays. Many of you who have attended the event have experienced first-hand the enthusiasm, the passion and the diversity of those musicians and you’ve heard from them directly also shared their experience in music in a conflict area. For them, music itself, makes it worthwhile.
It was heart-warming and humbling to receive support from world –renowned artists such as Roger Waters, Tom Morello and Brian Eno as well as the full support from prominent Palestinian musicians Mohammed Assaf and Adnan Joubran who went out of their way to make sure the event is a success. We were also humbled by the involvement of the press; from the Rolling Stone to CNN and NME and others, the event had the coverage it needed to reach every person in their living room around the world.
On LIVE FOR GAZA, Lina Sleibi presented one of her songs from the Delia Sessions
LIVE FOR GAZA is the first event of its kind to fundraise for musicians in Gaza during this global pandemic and our experience showed us that music, along with all artistic expressions, is the most powerful tool to bring communities together however apart.
With your generous donations and ticket purchases, we have raised over 40,000 euros to keep supporting musicians in Gaza and fill the gaps that are currently present within the strip. With your help, we will continue to provide access to our recording studio which will be fully equipped to suit the needs of the musicians, encourage women to have a bigger role in the field, introduce new training programs that are not found elsewhere in Gaza and bring music into marginalized communities and refugee camps of the Gaza Strip.
Your donations and support will change the lives of those musicians and the Delia Arts Foundation is overwhelmed with joy and gratitude for the trust you have put in us to fulfill our mission. We invite you to keep following us on our social platforms and subscribe to our newsletter if you haven’t done so to watch with us what the musicians of Gaza can do when they have your support.
From the bottom of our excited hearts, we are deeply grateful for your support! We will see you in the
next event!
