for the promotion of culture and the production of contemporary art in lebanon and the middle east

The Other
“The Other” is one of ASA’s programs. It aims at providing an educational model that promotes the values of diversity and tolerance in surroundings based on cultural and social diversity. “The Other” uses artistic production as a means of expression.

The “Other” intends to provide a space for dialogue between young people of different social and cultural backgrounds where ideas relevant to diversity, difference, non-discrimination and tolerance are shared and exchanged. It gives the youth the opportunity to participate in the cultural and democratic development of their society, and engages them in the sharing of ideas and experiences while involving them in a joint effort to produce art work based on understanding and acceptance of the other.
In its first year of implementation (2005), the program used animation as the artistic discipline of expression. Different artistic disciplines such as theatre and film are foreseen for next phases of the program.

2005: first year of the program

A summer camp held in Adma from August 19 to September 6, 2005 assembled 45 high school students representing private and public schools from the six “mohafazats” of Lebanon. The students reflected the social and cultural diversity of the Lebanese society. The participants of the camp were first exposed, through debates and discussions using active and participatory training methods, to the meaning of otherness and the values of diversity and non-discrimination. They were subsequently trained by professionals to produce animation short films reflecting their opinion on otherness.

A team of young persons with social and artistic backgrounds was formed and trained, before the camp started, to assist the working groups and to act as technical and artistic advisors to the youth during the production process of their animation films.
Seven animation shorts destined for the promotion of awareness on non-discrimination and the values of diversity were produced by the youth.

These animations as well as the experience of the summer camp will be exposed in screenings and festivals to the general public as well as to a specific audience composed of educational, cultural and artistic institutions from all over Lebanon and from the region.

A DVD containing the 7 animation shorts and a video on the summer camp is produced for larger diffusion.


Main topics of the training

-Difference and diversity: discovering oneself and the other and assessing similarities and resemblances.

- Identity and belonging: “who am I”? The diversity of belonging patterns that forms our identity. Relativity between resemblance and difference. Every person is unique.

- Difference and discrimination through personal experiences: Participants were able to examine their personal experiences with the “different other” as well as their discriminatory behavior because of difference. By recalling their childhood, family life, school years and diverse other situations, they brought up issues through which they experienced discrimination based on sect affiliation, gender, political ideas, color of skin, physical handicap, nationality, social class etc

- Stereotyping: Analyzing and understanding the different cases of stereotyping and generalization in sexism and sectarianism. Different components and consequences of discrimination.

- Case studies of discrimination: Participants researched different cases of discrimination in the Lebanese society and their representation in the media, in the rights and in education. They analyzed religious education at school, sexism, social integration of the handicapped, and discrimination against domestic assistants from Sri Lanka.

- Techniques of animation film making: Participants were exposed to a brief history of animation, as well as strategies, narrative structures and scriptwriting. Through examples and studies, they learned how to develop a comprehensive storyboard looking at framing, composition and narrative sequences. They were also exposed, through animation films, to different animation techniques ranging from cell and traditional animation to stop motion, sand and ink animation and 3d animation. They learned photography for animation, digital animation, and compositing, as well as sound recording and editing. Depending on their interests, participants experimented with sand animation, collage animation, clay animation, stop motion, and 2d animation.

Some of participants’ feedback collected 3 months after the camp ended:
“In my school, they discriminate against persons from other religion. They said to us when we came back from the camp: oh, you lived with people from other religion! How were you able to do so?! I said: easy, it’s enough to respect the person in front of you. At the end discrimination ceases if we respect the other person”. Marina


“I discovered in the camp that one shouldn’t close his door and say that’s how I am and I’m right. At least one should go and see what others have”. Zeina “I met in the camp people from other religions and other regions that are closer to me than friends with whom I live”. Farah Baalbaki.


“I am happy now to have friends from all over Lebanon thanks to the camp. I never thought hat one day I’ll make friends from Saida or Bekaa and the South”. Sania


“Once, after the camp I was in the Gym. Some guy was talking politics and saying bad things about others he disagrees with them politically… usually I do not intervene in such discussions… That time I interfered and told him: you don’t have the right to have prejudices about people you don’t know and you never met… This made me feel strong and happy”. Farah Hajj


“After the camp, I was once in the supermarket. There was a Srilanki woman queuing before me to pay. The cashier took my things to make me pass before her. I said: it’s her turn and he said: it doesn’t matter… I did not accept and insisted that it was her right to pay before me”. Remy


“I try not to have prejudices about others anymore: this one is good, that one is bad... I now try to see good things about every person. No one is bad in absolute”… Charlie


“I feel more than ever before concerned because I am now aware that I should not discriminate… I now feel responsible to spread the word and say it’s not allowed to discriminate even if no one listens to me”. Marina


“I do not fear anymore to express my ideas by drawing during the drawing class at school”. Georgina

“I now use drawing continuously to express my ideas about people and life… This makes me happy”. Bilal

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