Biografie
Rana Yazaji is a researcher, trainer and cultural manager; she is currently the co-director of “Arts and International Cooperation” at Zurich University of the Arts. She bases her work on the combination of research and cultural practices focusing on three interconnected levels: creative initiatives, institutional building and policy discussions.
In 2011, she co-founded Ettijahat- Independent Culture, a Syrian organization formed to support independent arts and culture to play their role in social and political transformation. In 2014, Yazaji became the Executive Director of Culture Resource (Al Mawred Al Thaqafy), a regional cultural organization active in the Arab Region.
Yazaji’s interest in Cultural Policy led her to focus on Research; since 2009 she published many researches, most significantly, The compedium of cultural policies in Syria for the book, Introduction to Cultural Policies in the Arab Region; contributing to Istanbul Bilgi University’s yearbook of cultural policies with the chapter entitled, “National Planning & Emerging Role of Civil Society Institutions in Syria”; and most recently “Arts and Funding – Models of Resources Management and parallel approaches to cultural and Creative sustainability”.
Yazaji completed a B.A. in Theatre Studies from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts (Damascus, 2001), an M.A. in Design and Management of Cultural Projects from the New Sorbonne University (Paris, 2005), and an M.A. in Theatre Directing and Dramaturgy from the University of Paris X (Paris, 2006).