Syria - Youth & Heritage - Sweida

Partners: Syrian NGOs (See also Al Makan Art Association for more details: (www.almakan-syria.org/english)

Sweida, Syria

October 2010    

The town of Sweida, founded by the Nabataeans, is situated in a famous ancient wine-producing region. During the Greek and Roman times, it was called Dionysias, named after Dionysus, the god of wine. The town has some archaeological excavations of the ancient Nabataean, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine times. Many of its houses are built in the Roman architecture.

In the centre of Sweida, is a Roman amphitheatre that the youth of the town recently cleaned and uncovered. Youth came together as part of an initiative, funded by the European Union to a partnership of Italian and Syrian non-government organisations. This initiative aimed at building awareness among youth on their local traditions and their cultural and architectural heritage, as well as teaching them how to work together.

Maya, a bright and spirited girl from Damascus, is the founder of the Al Makan Art association that is a partner of this project. Maya is the coordinator for this project. She is passionate about the cultural heritage of her country, and especially about preserving and transmitting oral traditions to new generations. The project activities were implemented in two historically and archaeologically important towns of Syria - Palmyra and Sweida.

Maya brought together youth from these two towns- those still living with their families in the town and those studying in other cities. She created Youth Groups in both these towns and trained them in documentation and illustration of heritage. The groups documented oral heritage of their communities and conducted research on what constitutes the cultures of their communities today.  Oral traditions are those cultural narrations, practices, and beliefs that are transmitted by word of mouth and consist, as does written literature, of both prose and verse narratives, poems and songs, myths, dramas, rituals, proverbs, riddles, and the like.

Additional Notes

“Youth and Heritage” is a project funded by the European Commission through its annual donation support for the cultural projects, under patronage of the ministry of culture (Syria). It is being implemented by COSV (Comitato di Coordinamento delle organizzazioni per il servizio volontario) in partnership with local organisations – the Al-Makan art association, IFPO and the Syrian Organization for Sustainable Tourism.

The project aimed at building awareness among youth (16-25 year-olds) on their local traditions, cultural and architectural heritage, facilitate their interaction with the older generation, make them discuss and relate to culture and heritage and teach them how to work together. The project was implemented in Sweida and Palmyra.

Groups of 20 youth each were created in the three cities and trained in documentation and illustration of the local heritage. The groups documented oral heritage and conducted research on what constitutes the cultures of their communities today. The youth later exhibited their work through two mobile bus exhibits and through theatrical representations of the culture and history of the towns they worked in. The exhibits toured the Governorates of Sweida and Homs and Damascus. They also conducted awareness building activities in the town to bring local communities closer to their heritage and promoted both domestic and international tourism around these towns.

“It enriches all when youth from different cities and cultural backgrounds come together in one initiative,” says the country director of COSV.

More information in the Web site of the EU Delegation in Syria