A feminist cultural organisation in Beirut — turning its art house, networks, and community infrastructure into a mutual aid lifeline for displaced families.
DonateHaven for Artists is a feminist cultural organisation based in Achrafieh, Beirut. Founded in 2011 by a group of artists and activists, it began as a mobile platform — hosting festivals, performances, residencies, and exhibitions that gave visibility to Lebanon's underground art scene and to voices that mainstream cultural spaces often excluded.
Over the years, Haven grew into a physical art house and digital platform rooted in intersectional feminism, gender and racial justice, and decolonial practices. It has hosted over 300 artists, run workshops and exhibitions, and built networks connecting artists across Lebanon and the wider Middle East and North Africa region with advocacy groups, activists, and NGOs working on women's rights and LGBTQ+ wellbeing. The organisation is women-led, self-sustaining, and unapologetically political.
Haven's history is inseparable from Lebanon's crises. When the October 2019 revolution erupted, Haven closed its gallery and joined the street protests. After the August 2020 Beirut port explosion, the team opened a temporary shelter and threw themselves into relief work. Each time, the same instinct: use whatever infrastructure exists — physical space, community networks, organisational capacity — and redirect it toward whoever needs it most.
Since the restart of the war in March 2025, Haven launched a mutual aid network, coordinating with grassroots initiatives and community collectives across Beirut to distribute mattresses, blankets, food, hygiene kits, and medication to displaced people. The distributions reach families in and outside formal shelters — including migrant workers and undocumented communities who are routinely excluded from official aid systems.
Haven is also mobilising support through art and culture initiatives: Film screenings, figure drawing salons, and community gatherings driving direct support for relief efforts.
A mutual aid network built on years of cultural organising — reaching the people that formal humanitarian systems routinely miss.
Coordinating distribution of food, blankets, mattresses, hygiene kits, and medication to displaced families in and outside formal shelters.
Linking grassroots initiatives, community collectives, and individual volunteers to reach families outside formal humanitarian systems — including migrant workers and undocumented communities.
Film screenings, figure drawing salons, and community gatherings that raise funds and build solidarity — turning Haven's cultural infrastructure into direct relief support.
Continuing to provide a physical and digital space for marginalised artists, activists, and cultural workers whose lives and practices have been disrupted by the war.
Based in Achrafieh, Beirut, Haven for Artists operates across Beirut through its mutual aid network, coordinating with collectives and grassroots groups to reach displaced people wherever they are — including communities routinely excluded from formal relief systems.
This section is updated regularly with news from the field. Older updates are preserved below.
Stand With Lebanon goes live, featuring Haven for Artists as one of the organisations at the heart of the effort. Since the re-escalation, Haven has activated its mutual aid network — coordinating distributions of essentials across Beirut and organising cultural fundraising events to sustain the relief effort.
Your donation supports Haven's mutual aid network — reaching displaced families, migrant workers, and undocumented communities across Beirut who fall outside formal humanitarian systems.
DonateQuestions? standwithleb@gmail.com