Amidst a widespread shrinking of fundamental rights and freedoms across the Mediterranean, supporting and promoting human rights among young people is a priority that calls for creative approaches and forms of expression. Many young artists and digital content creators who identify with human rights values are already playing a vital role in shaping shared values and serve as powerful influencers among their peers. In their own unique ways, they bring to life spaces for encountering otherness and fostering critical thinking, while generating movement and new ideas within our societies by exploring issues that are personal, relational, political, economic, and environmental.
Tae’thir aims to open up spaces for the exchange of ideas and creativity, encouraging collaboration among practitioners across the Mediterranean and helping to overcome the isolation many of them face. It seeks to forge new alliances and promote a human rights culture among young people by developing partnerships between digital influencers, artists, and the human rights sector.
Tae’thir builds on long-standing reflection regarding the evolution of new forms of mobilization and advocacy for human rights in the Mediterranean. The project’s partners—REF, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Instants Vidéo Numériques et Poétiques, and the Ligue de l’Enseignement des Bouches-du-Rhône—have spent years working on issues related to human rights defense, the promotion of active citizenship, and universal access to art and culture, even as the environments in which they operate become increasingly restrictive.
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The project offers artists and content creators a series of opportunities:
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Tae’thir Cycle 1 (February 2024 – October 2025)
Twenty participants were selected—young artists and digital content creators aged 22 to 33 from 10 countries: Algeria, Egypt, France, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey.
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Tae’thir Cycle 2 (March 2025 – July 2026)
Twenty-four participants have been selected for the second cycle of the Tae’thir project. They are young artists and digital content creators aged 24 to 35, hailing from 11 countries: Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Syria, and Tunisia.
Six initial works and digital creations were presented as part of the Instants Vidéo festival—titled "Veille ardente"—held from October 16 to 20, 2025, at La Friche la Belle de Mai in Marseille. Featured works included:
The event marking the second cycle of the project Des graines portées par le vent chaud (Seeds Carried by the Warm Wind) took place in Marseille on Friday, July 3, Saturday, July 4, and Sunday, July 5, 2026.
Sixteen artists and creators from Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, France, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, and Greece presented their original digital works and creations across a variety of formats: video and multimedia installations, podcasts, sculptural structures, painting, video games, performance art, photography, and web platforms. Weaving a tapestry of artistic and digital narratives, their creations offer a way to examine the complexities of the world through the language of art.
This key event brought together artists, cultural and institutional partners, associations, researchers, and the public for a program featuring exhibitions, screenings, a concert, and discussion sessions—all inviting a fresh perspective on human rights in the Mediterranean. The event was hosted by three community-oriented cultural hubs in central Marseille: La Fabulerie, Atelier Rafale, and Le Plan de A à Z.
This event marks the conclusion of the first phase of the Tae’thir project, a three-year pilot initiative led by the REF in a consortium with the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Instants Vidéo Numériques et Poétiques, and La Ligue de l’Enseignement 13.
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