Arts Interview: Ehab Shanti | It’s A Question Of Balance 12 December 2015

Broadcast on 12 December 2015 on KSCO AM 1080, KSCO 104.1 FM, KOMY AM 1340, and KSCO.com Live Stream.

'It's A Question Of Balance' is a two hour show which balances the intellectual with the creative. The show combines a debate topic with an arts interview because discussion and creativity are two of the most vital ways we engage in the world. 

Check out podcasts of the different topics and arts guests at www.itsaquestionofbalance.com

Hour 2: In-Depth Arts Interview with Ehab Shanti

This week as her special guest from the arts Ruth Copland is pleased to be interviewing Ehab Shanti, co-founder and CEO of Alhoush.com, a physical and virtual expo of Arab art and design, which has become the premier portal for the development of the art and design sector in the Middle East and North Africa. Ehab has been referred to by Al-Quds Newspaper as “the dynamite of the artistic movement”. Passionate about art and design and their potential to play a profound role in overcoming life’s challenges, Ehab (and co-founder Rashid Abdelhamid) created Alhoush.com to empower the art and design community in the Arab world; to serve as a catalyst for creating an economy; and also to shed light on the innovation and tremendous achievements of Arab artists. A Canadian of Arab origin, Ehab is a global outreach and communications expert with over 20 years experience. He served as the Director of Global Outreach for the Office of Queen Rania of Jordan and was the head of communications for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Jerusalem and he says it was then that he saw “firsthand the power of art”. He helped to set up the UNDP Annual Art Auction and has gone on to organise numerous successful artistic and cultural events that have attracted international attention including This Is Also Gaza, featuring 40 Gazan painters, photographers, filmmakers and video artists;  two shows called Colours of the Future, held in Amman and in Abu Dhabi, for Jordanian and Emirati artists respectively; and This Is Palestine, an ambitious project with 200 relatively unknown artists, emphasising cultural development and the power of art to transcend reality and create beauty even in situations of conflict and distress. Ehab completed his education in Canada and holds a Masters of Public Administration from Dalhousie University and several BA’s from Carleton University in Art History, Political Science, and Interdisciplinary Studies. He has extensive experience in communications, policy development, and campaign organization and is the President and Founder of Amandla Group, which is a strategic communications consulting firm based in Amman. He also currently serves as an advisor and consultant with several international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank. Speaking of the major community empowerment initiative which is Alhoush.com, Ehab states  “The role of art…is to create a different reality and that can change things and that is the philosophy behind what we are doing.”

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