Art Works Projects

1) The Prosecutors is Art Works Projects full-length feature film that debuted in 2018 and continues to be a strong programmatic area of focus. In 2021, Art Works Projects was presented in 65+ screenings in over 20 cities across the globe, often programmed with workshops, panel discussions, and conferences around advancing grassroots to policy level discussions on fighting impunity for sexual violence in crisis and war. Screenings have taken place virtually and at universities, law firms, and development organizations and government agencies including the UK-FCDO at Parliament. In addition, AWP partnered with the DART Center in Europe to produce a toolkit on trauma-informed reporting when covering stories related to conflict related sexual violence, which has been broadly distributed and workshopped by documentary filmmakers, journalists, etc. 2) 2021 was AWP's 15 year anniversary and so we focused our year on reviewing our past 15 years of exhibitions that have been produced and re-commissioned original photographers for exhibition updates to some issues that continue to face challenges. This included calling out the 10-year anniversary of the Syrian Refugee Crisis. AWP re-commissioned Syrian photojournalist, Bassam Khabieh for an update on his documentation of children impacted by the crisis from his original group exhibition with AWP, "Children of Syria." Khabieh's nearly decade documentation of refugee children culminated in a book that AWP supported titled "Witnesses to War," released in the summer of 2021 and all proceeds of book sales go toward direct aid work through a the Karam Foundation. In October 2021, AWP produced a digital exhibition of Khabieh's work, and partnered again with the Karam Foundation to host a number of online panel discussions discussing the challenges of young refugees facing anti-refugee sentiments in the countries where they seek refugee.3) Emerging Lens is Art Works Projects annual documentary photography fellowship that sponsors an early-career photographer with a stipend, mentorship, and exhibition support to develop a project addressing human rights or social justice challenges in their community. Art Works Projects dedicates a large amount of staff time in the administration of the competition as well as the ongoing management of the fellowship experience culminating in an open to the public exhibition, distribution opportunities, and more. In 2021, due to the success of the program, the Board made a commitment to fund up to three fellows with larger unrestricted stipends and exhibition support. In 2021 we received a record number of submissions from across the globe demonstrated the growth, audience reach, and impact of the program.