New Website Tells the Saharawi Story through the Arts

“Arts and human rights charity Sandblast launches new website on its
5th anniversary to highlight mission with the Saharawi people.”

London, May 25th - To celebrate its 5th anniversary, arts and human rights charity Sandblast today announces the official launch of its new website www.sandblast-arts.org. The website was re-designed to complement the charity's vast multi-media resources on Saharawi life and culture and promote digital engagement with community members, artists, scholars and activists with the Saharawis.

Following several months of research on the uses of websites for small charities, the new design was developed with stakeholders, designers and creatives with the aim of creating a space that is easy to access and experience Saharawi art and culture, get information on the situation in Western Sahara and learn of Sandblast's work with the Saharawi refugees.

Cathrin Lemoine, Digital Communications Manager, Sandblast says:

"The new website is now optimized to make information on Saharawi culture and society easily and dynamically accessible to the public to raise awareness for the situation in Western Sahara. Sandblast facilitates art and capacity-building workshops in the refugee camps each year which just could not be showcased very well on the old website.” 

"Now we can engage and connect with artists from all over the world. Members of the public who want updates on ongoing projects will not only encounter facts and figures in endless reports, but also images and stories from those running the workshops and the Saharawis benefiting from them," enthuses Sandblast Director, Danielle Smith.

Through this virtual space, the charity hopes to encourage collaborations to develop ideas and projects with or in aid of the Saharawi people."

New features on the website include:

• access to a vast array of multimedia art by and about Saharawis;
• updates and high-quality material on ongoing projects in the refugee camps;
• archive of multi-media resources on the situation in Western Sahara.

The launch of the website represents a crucial phase in the charity's online presence as the primary UK hub of information on Saharawi culture and its mission to build an active community of collaborators working in different ways to promote the visibility and support of the Saharawi plight through the arts and other educational means. 

You can view the new Sandblast website at http://www.sandblast-arts.org. To win a Tiris Sandtracks mp3, the sound of the Saharawis, send your feedback to info@sandblast-arts.org.