Story & Vision
The Offscreen Education Programme was set up by four young British artists - Al Braithwaite, Henry Hemming, Stephen Stapleton & Georgie Weedon - following their year long creative expedition to the Middle East in 2002-2003.
The journey took them through Turkey, Iran, Kurdish Iraq, UAE, Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and finally to Baghdad soon after the city fell in 2003.
As well as producing exhibitions of expedition artwork in London, Amman, Muscat, New York, Amsterdam, Oslo and Tehran, and a written account of the journey, in 2004 a visual record of the expedition was published to critical acclaim: Offscreen, Four Young Artists in the Middle East (distributed worldwide by Booth-Clibborn Editions).
Following its publication, the artists joined forces with UK teachers to set up the Offscreen Education Programme as a way of sharing their experiences and networks with as many young people as possible. The initiative's aim was to inspire students to explore other cultures and cross borders in a creative and positive way.
Offscreen's vision remains to inspire creativity and communication across borders.