Short Portrait Baynatna & FANN – The Arabic language library of Berlin
Berlin’s first Arabic library enriches the cultural landscape of the German capital with its events in the Arabic, German and English language and the digital art and culture magazine FANN. In this creative alliance, spaces of encounter, communication and inspiration are created for artists, cultural workers and scientists.
“Social spaces are important and necessary whenever peoples and cultures are to collide. Baynatna & FANN – the Arabic Library of Berlin fills this classical institution of the library with a wide variety of actively lived art and culture across national and cultural borders. In times when libraries have to close, this cannot be appreciated enough”, says the jury.
3 new questions to… the project team of Baynatna & FANN
Baynatna (Arabic for “between us”) and Fann (Arabic for “art”) were founded in 2017. With over 3,500 books and magazines, Baynatna serves a diverse community and has become a meeting place with a variety of events. The online magazine FANN provides a platform for intellectuals and artists from German and Arabic-speaking countries.
The award is a recognition of the work we have done in recent years and acknowledges our commitment. The library and magazine are only a few years old and almost all of us work on a voluntary basis. It is existential for us to receive funding to strengthen and expand the structures and networks of both projects.
In a very short time, Baynatna and FANN have become important forums for exchange and encounter. Together they create spaces for encounter, communication and inspiration. FANN not only conveys something of the Arab world, but also responds to the rapid political developments in individual regions and countries. Baynatna is currently located in the Central and Regional Library in Berlin-Mitte and is now looking for a new space in Berlin that will mesh the library more closely with the neighbourhood.
3 questions to… the project team of Baynatna & FANN
Open spaces for encounter and inspiration: Baynatna & FANN is the Arabic library & art and culture magazine in the centre of Berlin.
We want to use the funding to pay the cultural workers who put their heart and soul into the library and the magazine, mainly on a voluntary basis, every day, fairly and secure them financially for the coming months. In addition, we want to use the money to improve our digital infrastructure by, for example, better communicating our knowledge and our numerous opportunities for encounters and dialogue through a new website.
… will show solidarity in maintaining and promoting a diverse Arabic-speaking cultural landscape. This does not simply mean demanding cultural diversity, but also supporting it with real commitment – for instance by providing sustainable resources. We would like to see a clear demarcation between Germany and the right-wing and the recognition that racist structures exist in institutions and in society, and that right-wing violence cannot be systematically put off as individual cases.