Open Call for Mentors

“BASITA Fellowship” is a 12-months programme that aims at equipping 20 performing arts groups from different disciplines such as music, theatre, dance, and all types of spoken word, from the MENA region with the necessary technical, managerial, marketing, and digital capacities to embark on their next career level, be self-sustained financially, and be able to navigate and master the digital era.

BASITA Fellowship will be culminated with BAB ElBAHR Hybrid festival, where 20 performances will be produced for the selected performing arts groups and presented in a Hybrid format; live in the theatres and virtually on Basita.live for audiences from different countries.

The structure of the Fellowship is as follows:

10-months of mentorship with acclaimed artists and cultural practitioners from the region:

• Kick-off seminar (virtual): input on strategic planning in light of new technologies and digital and online marketing presence, in addition to an overview on institutional resilience and overview on fundraising.
• One to one mentorship (face-to-face and virtual) with Basita founders and the selected mentors (industry professionals from the region) for 6 hours per month for a period of 10 months in addition to 10 hours per month of individual work / assignments.
• Monthly Case Clinics: Two monthly group meetings to work on addressing a challenge.
• Monthly virtual check-ins, where the 20 groups will meet to share progress and report on the individual work / assignments and share recommendations from the Case Clinics.
• Closing Seminar (Face-to-Face in Egypt): Evaluation, feedback, presentation of their strategic plans and outcomes.

Producing the performances:

• Producing one performance per artist in collaboration with a host institution in their country. The production will be part of Bab ElBahr Hybrid Festival; performed live and broadcasted on Basita.live for audiences who are not physically in the performance location.

Mentorship Topics:

• Strategic Planning
• Institutional resilience
• Fundraising
• Institutional, programmatic, and digital marketing
• Virtual Platforms
• Information Technology and the digital environment
• Artistic Production
• Performance and stage Management
• The Artist as an art manager
• The Artist as a social entrepreneur
• Lessons learned from the art giants

The Role of the Mentor:

• The Mentors will participate in selecting the fellows
• Will commit to 12 hours per month for virtual or face-to-face meetings where suitable
• Attend at least one group meeting per month
• The mentorship duration will be determined based on each area of specialization in comparison with the needs analysis of each fellow
• The fellowship will take place from November 2021 to September 2022
• The fees will be determined based on number of mentorship hours

Who can apply:

• Experts in the above disciplines from the Middle East

How to apply:

• Fill-in the application form
• Deadline to apply 8 September 2021