Forever Palestine - Hanan Al-Murqaten
The power of traditional art is embodied in its ability to preserve culture, heritage and the stories of generations long since passed. Learning about traditional art forms evokes a sense community. Communities come together to preserve their culture by passing on the knowledge and teaching the skills to preserve traditional art forms which are part of our everyday lives. It is undeniable that traditional arts and handicrafts express the collective identity, history and culture that breathes life to a community.
It is within the spirit of community and celebration of traditional Palestinian arts that Hebron based Hanan founded Forever Palestine in March of 2018. Hanan’s background include a Master’s degree in Information Technology from the Polytechnic University in Hebron spurred her interest in creating bridges between people to raise awareness about impactful issues. Forever Palestine is an online platform which showcases traditional Palestinian handicrafts including folkloric dresses, culturally resonant arts and handcrafted products. Hanan speaks about the inspiration behind Forever Palestine, “Culture was a big part of growing up in my family.” She continues, “The women in my family not only wore traditional Palestinian dresses but they made them, they were passionate about keeping these arts alive in my family because it is part of our culture and brings us as Palestinians together.”
The Forever Palestine team currently consists of Hanan the founder and driving force behind the project who works towards creating the community of creators and those passionate about traditional arts and crafts. In addition, Haya is Forever Palestine’s developer who works towards creating the platform, optimizing user experience and maintaining the network of committed handicrafters.
Forever Palestine works to create jobs for Palestinian handicrafters who have the skills and drive but lack a strategic platform to showcase their crafts. In this context, the handicraft sector is considered to be integral in creating a more equitable economy in third world communities as it provides an outlet for women to earn a sustainable income utilizing their artistic traditions. Therefore, Forever Palestine addresses these needs within the Palestinian economy as well as in communities by not only creating a platform for women crafters to earn an income and become independent, but to preserve their heritage and heritage.
What distinguishes Forever Palestine from its competitors is its focus on community. Hanan explains, “Forever Palestine is all about community, we are building a community of people from all around the world that appreciate and celebrate Palestinian culture.” In other words, Forever Palestine not only features Palestinian handicrafts, it is also built upon creating a community of crafters and anyone passionate about traditional, handcrafted arts. Hanan explains, “Women invest their time and efforts into producing the best quality handicrafts, however, their crafts are not valued as much as they should be.” She adds, “Forever Palestine will highlight how these crafts are made in featured videos and detailed pictures that highlight the production process, so that customers know the efforts that go into traditional handicrafts.” Another distinctive feature of Forever Palestine will be the ability of handicrafters and artists to have their own profile to tell their stories and the stories behind their crafts.
Through the use of social media sites like Facebook, Forever Palestine seeks to be more than just an ecommerce destination but to create an interactive community that care about Palestinian culture and traditional arts and crafts. As a result, Forever Palestine seeks to reach customers on a global scale, Hanan says, “Basically our target customer is anyone who cares about Palestinian culture and the handicrafts that represents it.” As such, Forever Palestine’s digital platform will be translated into various language in order to maximize outreach. In addition, Forever Palestine benefits from an extensive market research campaign which aims to precisely know the needs of customers as well as the challenges and potential of projected markets to optimize their business approach prior to launch.
At the current stage Forever Palestine is working towards the launch of their digital platform. However, as the startup continues to expand and acquire additional creators and meet the needs of their growing community, Forever Palestine will work towards expanding their team and launch an expansive marketing campaign to further develop their community.
Forever Palestine will take care of the marketing concerns of featured artists and handicrafters, including logistical and financial transactions. In order to generate a sustainable revenue Hanan explains that once the site is launched within the end of 2018, Forever Palestine will take a small percentage of all sales and transactions concluded on the site. By the end of 2018, Forever Palestine will have acquired their customer base based on market research and launched the online Platform. Within the upcoming years, Hanan projects that Forever Palestine will be able to maintain a sustainable revenue, and develop strategic solutions to adjust to the logistical and technical issues needed to meet the growing needs of their consumers.
In terms of impact, Hanan explains that Forever Palestine will be able to provide a platform where Palestinian handicrafters especially women are able to sell their products and make a living for themselves. In addition to Hanan stresses the cultural and social impact that Forever Palestine is geared towards, “Forever Palestine is not just a business, with this platform I want to create a culturally aware community to assert our identity as Palestinians.” She adds, “I also want to create the opportunity for so many women skilled in traditional arts to showcase themselves, earn a livelihood and express their stories through their art!”