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US Summer Camp Expands Understanding of UAE
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the focus and case study for 70 children ranging in ages from seven to 17 years at a three-week program at Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture’s summer camp in Philadelphia. Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture is a Philadelphia-based non-profit organization dedicated to youth education in the Arabic language, Arab arts, and Arab culture. Since its incorporation as a non-profit organization in 2003, Al-Bustan’s camp has chosen to focus on one country in the Middle East every summer. This year, the campers learned about UAE culture, songs, poetry, dance, drama, arts, sciences, and the environment.
The camp is open to all ethnic, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds. Al Bustan’s day camp brings together youth, artists, educators and musicians to encourage and promote cultural understanding. Participants engage in activities that include an Arabic language immersion program, musical instruction and activities in Arabic, dramatic arts, and poetry. This year’s choice to focus on the culture and environment of the UAE brought the campers many extra learning experiences.
Educators and participants came from diverse cultures and backgrounds in the Middle East and the United States. Mohammed Kazim, a UAE national and contemporary visual artist, currently in the US for an Artist-In-Residence program under the patronage of the UAE Ministry of Culture’s Emirates Foundation, contributed his talents and experience to camp youth in the visual arts program. Mr. Kazim retired from the UAE military to pursue his passion for painting. His work has been shown in numerous exhibitions in the UAE, South Korea, Switzerland, Italy Germany, Uzbekistan, Spain, Bangladesh, Cuba, Oman and France. In addition to being a curator of art museums in Sharjah, Mr. Kazim shows his work in his own museum and presented an art exhibition entitled ‘The Flying House.”
In addition to exposing the campers to Mr. Kazim’s first-hand UAE knowledge, Al-Bustan’s camp incorporated many other UAE-specific cultural activities into its program this summer. For example, a falconer visited the camp to speak about the UAE’s tradition of falconry. At the end of the program, the campers performed in a talent show to demonstrate what they learned during their three weeks at the summer camp. During the performance, the campers played musical instruments such as the Tabla, sang UAE songs, recited poetry, danced and showcased their Arabic speaking skills.
Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture celebrates diversity from a unique and positive perspective. The organization promotes dialogue, understanding and respect. By encouraging participants and spectators to experience Middle Eastern culture through the arts, the camp allows stereotypes and misinformation to be broken down.
One of Al-Bustan’s program aspirations states: “Al-Bustan’s programming aims to counter prevalent prejudice and institutional discrimination in educational settings, media outlets, and political discourses. Cultural arts presentations to the public – involving both youth program participants and professional artists – provide opportunities to demonstrate the richness and diversity of Arab culture, both in its traditional form as well as contemporary explorations and transformations. By offering the public a nuanced portrait of Arabs and Arab culture, Al-Bustan hopes to seed alternatives to the negative images and understandings that dominate in these times.”
