Shatila Youth

BEIRUT YOUTH

is an immersive, multimedia installation of Jey Perie and Gogy Esparza's experiences while in Beirut, Lebanon.

The duo arrived in August 2016, with little more than a tentative plan to recount the lives of the city's youth, from the affluent to the disenfranchised.

Honest, raw, sensitive;
the exhibition crystallizes
the emotion they felt there, and in its people.
The beauty and blood of its pulse,
the pain and fruits of its history.

Though war-torn and fractured,
the juxtaposition of such diversity in cultures, religions and opinions breed its chaos, seductively, beautifully, the way only a Beruti enchantress could.

Esparza photographed these images exclusively on 35mm film in August 2016, and on a second trip in March 2017 (over a total of 20 days). He also shot digital video, and constructed four short films on
he and Perie’s experiences.

Shatila Refugee Camp is one of the sites Gogy and Jey visited during their documentary. They are raising money here to donate to Shatila Children Youth Center (Shatila CYC). Proceeds will go to providing the Center's children with educational materials and stationery. In addition to uniforms and sneakers for the Youth Center's football club.

 "Shatila CYC is a non-governmental organization located in the Palestinian refugee camps of both Shatila, in Beirut, and Nahr el-Bared. We work under the International Child and Human Rights Convention in cooperation with UNICEF, UNESCO, Save the Children (Sweden), and other child protectors, to defend the child’s right to learn and play, in safety. Added support comes from a variety of other interested organisations, and individuals.

Founded in 1997, the CYC  provides guidance and space, for the youth of the two camps to develop their education, abilities, and imagination. We strive to supply the vital tools, information, and opportunities necessary for self-expression, self-discovery, and self-development, for an environment in which all Shatila’s and Nahr e-Bared’s children and youth can pursue, and achieve their dreams.

The CYC provides a wide variety of educational and recreational activities, for children and youth, aged six to eighteen years. The activities follow an active learning methodology, which in turn supports the youth centre’s aims and ideology, including the effective involvement of children and youth in the application of their centre. The centre also acts as a social meeting point where the age groups can meet, interact, and learn from one another informally, as well as formally."


We invite you to view our project, videos and additional, exclusive content online:

www.beirutyouth.com

and Shatila CYC's site here:

https://cycshatila.org/