Al Hannouneh Society for Popular Culture

About us

Al Hannouneh Society For Popular Culture

Al Hannouneh believes in the unity of heritage and culture. Geographical borders can create countries, yet they cannot divide the common culture. We believe in maintaining the culture and heritage of Greater Syria as one geographical region, while focusing on the Palestinian culture in the meantime due to the sensitivity of the it’s situation; which is exposed to all degrading forms of colonization and occupation by the Zionist enemy as well as continuous attempts of theft to the civilized heritage and culture post occupying the lands and displacing it’s people.

In the early 1990s, the idea of Al Hannouneh came to life because of a small group led by the late Architect Saadeh Saleh. The group believed in the importance of folk culture and described it as an essential component of the national identity. They translated their efforts into a modest start with two musicians and one singer. From there, the journey of the Al Hannouneh began and was registered officially at the Jordanian Ministry of Culture on 04^th December 1993 as a society for popular culture. The main focus started at restoring the status of our folk culture and its magnificence, authenticity, beauty, and modernity. The Al Hannouneh aims to be a reference and a center for information related to the history of our region and its culture and heritage through: the library of the Al Hannouneh, the artistic troupe, Thobe (dress) for life project, Al Hannouneh Magazine for Popular Culture, Dabkeh Courses, Al Hannouneh Souq for crafts, traditional artisans and traditional cuisine, as well as other projects that we pursue to implement.

Ever since, we have focused on the following objectives:

1- Preserving and reviving the endangered history and culture, and at stake are theft, loss, desertion, and plagiarism.

2- Increasing awareness of folk culture and promoting it locally, regionally, and internationally.

3- Collecting all material related to the cultural and national heritage to form a large-scale database for reference, including books, visual and audio material, something which Al Hannouneh pioneered from the start.

4- Classification of materials depending on several bases: geographical, social, demographical, and others, which highlights the unity of the heritage in Greater Syria.

5- Communication with the community of the region through hosting artistic and cultural events from historical Palestine, as well as Al Hannouneh participating in similar activities in the Palestinian Authority-controlled area, which gives our youth the chance to visit the homeland and meet its steadfast people.

The active committees and commissions of Al Hannouneh Society:

1- The General Assembly: membership is available to all interested persons in accordance with Al Hannouneh regulations.

2- The Board of Directors: consists of 9 members who are elected by the general assembly every three years

3- The Board of Trustees: holds members from various backgrounds of cultural, social, economic, and scientific fields and from different countries and locations. Such variation in the specialties and expertise of the societal, cultural, and traditional fields is taken into consideration because it allows Al Hannouneh to grow and to facilitate its functions by offering support and advice.

4- The Womens' Committee: assembled in the late 2012, and considered a huge success, this group started with a unique circle of women who met regularly and planned for many activities and projects, such as: the Ladies Breakfast ceremony, Al Hannouneh Souq, the Book Club and in parallel with effective contribution to all the activities and events that are implemented by Al Hannouneh.

5- Al Hannouneh Artistic Troupe: produces a collection of programmes that showcase the sides of our folk culture through cohesive pieces that are presented to the public.