Babelmed
Encyclopedia
Babelmed is a non profit organisation established in Rome
in April 2001. Its main objective is to promote cultural exchanges in the Mediterranean and to spread information and ideas regarding this shared sea, particularly important today when prejudices and amalgamations are creating new barriers, both in the North and South.
In 2002, the association launched Babelmed.net http://www.babelmed.net. The site aims to be a link between actors, events and cultural production in the Mediterranean and to provide independent information on a wide range of issues. It is run by a central editorial team in Rome and a network of 17 correspondents around the Mediterranean Basin
, so it can generate its own contents.
The organisation includes journalism practices.
“babel”. “Bab”, the word for door in Arabic, also gives the impression of an open door. Babel is a mosaic of the languages found in the site: mainly French and English, and partly Arabic. The articles in the different country sections are presented in their original languages (for example, Italian and Spanish).
Public at large, and the media in particular, most often ignore that Western Europe
an countries are close to Muslim Mediterranean countries through history, cultural roots, mutual fertilisation of music, literature or films. Yet, the cultural dimension of these broad subjects constitutes a key factor towards improving mutual understanding and healing tensions.
Moreover, numerous cultural projects are implemented in the Mediterranean region but receive little coverage from national media.
Today, introducing the Mediterranean countries’ culture to the general public is both a challenge and a crucial issue.
. It does not belong to any media group
and has no link with any political, professional or religious body. It operates with subsidies from foundations interested in cultural dialogue and freedom of expression
around the Mediterranean.
Cultural Journalism
Reporting in Babelmed considers Culture
in its broader sense. The content of the site is divided into several sections: Cultural Agenda, Press review, Features, Creations and Archives. Each of the sections is then divided into sub-sections such as: Visual Arts, Performing Arts
, Literature, etc. The site also contains on-line and interactive exhibitions, for example “Syria, in the eyes of Europe, or “The sense of commerce”. Societal issues as well as political questions are dealt with from a cultural point of view. It is always tried to give national or local phenomenon a larger and cross-cultural understanding.
Permanent sections deal with specific themes: Films, Books and CDs, Impressions, Travels, Cooking Chronicles, Poetry, Geoart. The content of the site is also available by country, while a research engine helps to find specific articles in the site from their source. The site also produces features on the most central issues of Mediterranean cultures, sorted by main themes (women, migration, war, cuisine, for example) or by geographical locations (cities: Alexandria
, Beirut
, Istanbul
, Marseille
, Palermo
, Tangier
; countries: Turkey
). A blog section is now available for Babelmed journalists.
, media, cultural institutions
, museums, festivals, Independent places of creation and performance. Other intelligent links have been created with sites such as Medi1 http://www.medi1.com, Confluences Méditerranée http://www.confluences-mediterranee.com/, Actes Sud http://www.actes-sud.fr/, Radio Orient http://www.radioorient.com/, Qantara.de http://www.qantara.de. It wants to be a platform of information and cultural exchanges with the main cultural places and media of the region.
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in April 2001. Its main objective is to promote cultural exchanges in the Mediterranean and to spread information and ideas regarding this shared sea, particularly important today when prejudices and amalgamations are creating new barriers, both in the North and South.
In 2002, the association launched Babelmed.net http://www.babelmed.net. The site aims to be a link between actors, events and cultural production in the Mediterranean and to provide independent information on a wide range of issues. It is run by a central editorial team in Rome and a network of 17 correspondents around the Mediterranean Basin
Mediterranean Basin
In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation...
, so it can generate its own contents.
The organisation includes journalism practices.
Philosophy
The name “babelmed” refers to the Mediterranean “med” and its cultural diversityCultural diversity
Cultural diversity is having different cultures respect each other's differences. It could also mean the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole...
“babel”. “Bab”, the word for door in Arabic, also gives the impression of an open door. Babel is a mosaic of the languages found in the site: mainly French and English, and partly Arabic. The articles in the different country sections are presented in their original languages (for example, Italian and Spanish).
Public at large, and the media in particular, most often ignore that Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
an countries are close to Muslim Mediterranean countries through history, cultural roots, mutual fertilisation of music, literature or films. Yet, the cultural dimension of these broad subjects constitutes a key factor towards improving mutual understanding and healing tensions.
Moreover, numerous cultural projects are implemented in the Mediterranean region but receive little coverage from national media.
Today, introducing the Mediterranean countries’ culture to the general public is both a challenge and a crucial issue.
Independent reporting and Freedom of expression
Babelmed’s main goal is to provide information on cultural issues in the Mediterranean in a free and politically independent fashion. To this day, it has no equivalent on the Internet. Babelmed is a totally independent electronic mediumElectronic media
Electronic media are media that use electronics or electromechanical energy for the end-user to access the content. This is in contrast to static media , which today are most often created electronically, but don't require electronics to be accessed by the end-user in the printed form...
. It does not belong to any media group
Media conglomerate
A media conglomerate, media group or media institution is a company that owns large numbers of companies in various mass media such as television, radio, publishing, movies, and the Internet...
and has no link with any political, professional or religious body. It operates with subsidies from foundations interested in cultural dialogue and freedom of expression
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
around the Mediterranean.
Cultural JournalismJournalismJournalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
Reporting in Babelmed considers CultureCulture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
in its broader sense. The content of the site is divided into several sections: Cultural Agenda, Press review, Features, Creations and Archives. Each of the sections is then divided into sub-sections such as: Visual Arts, Performing Arts
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
, Literature, etc. The site also contains on-line and interactive exhibitions, for example “Syria, in the eyes of Europe, or “The sense of commerce”. Societal issues as well as political questions are dealt with from a cultural point of view. It is always tried to give national or local phenomenon a larger and cross-cultural understanding.
Permanent sections deal with specific themes: Films, Books and CDs, Impressions, Travels, Cooking Chronicles, Poetry, Geoart. The content of the site is also available by country, while a research engine helps to find specific articles in the site from their source. The site also produces features on the most central issues of Mediterranean cultures, sorted by main themes (women, migration, war, cuisine, for example) or by geographical locations (cities: Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
, Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
; countries: Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
). A blog section is now available for Babelmed journalists.
Journalists’ network
Babelmed’s editorial line is to decluster national Mediterranean culture by offering content produced by journalists who are immerged in the cultural, political and social space of their own country, allowing a better understanding of all its particulars. Furthermore, the dialogue within the network allows a comparative view of inter-crossing themes common to the whole Mediterranean area.Cultural exchanges (information and ideas)
The site offers more than 300 links with the main cultural actors in the Mediterranean: Publishing housesPublishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
, media, cultural institutions
Cultural institutions
Cultural institutions are elements within a culture/sub-culture that are perceived to be important to, or traditionally valued among, its members for their own identity. Examples of cultural institutions in modern Western society are museums, churches, schools, work and the print media.Television...
, museums, festivals, Independent places of creation and performance. Other intelligent links have been created with sites such as Medi1 http://www.medi1.com, Confluences Méditerranée http://www.confluences-mediterranee.com/, Actes Sud http://www.actes-sud.fr/, Radio Orient http://www.radioorient.com/, Qantara.de http://www.qantara.de. It wants to be a platform of information and cultural exchanges with the main cultural places and media of the region.