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Olfa Arfaoui
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Feminist activist · Gender & culture specialist · Social entrepreneur

OlfaArfaoui

Creativity as a tool for structural change.

Discover the work

Building space for women and gender minorities in culture.

I work at the intersection of gender justice, cultural production and institutional development. For more than a decade I have built platforms, funds and networks that give women and gender minorities across the Global South real access to the creative economy — not as beneficiaries, but as authors of their own work.

That work takes many shapes: a co-working studio in Tunis, a cross-regional network based in Belgium, artist residencies, research, mentoring, and a lot of conversations in rooms that were not designed for us.

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Areas of focus

01

Gender & cultural policy

Research, advocacy and advisory work on gender equality in the music and visual arts industries across the MENA region and Europe.

02

Institutional development

Designing organisations, funding mechanisms and governance that outlive a single project cycle.

03

Artist support & residencies

Residencies, mentoring and production support for early and mid-career women and gender-diverse artists.

04

Convening & facilitation

Panels, conferences and closed-door sessions that turn difficult conversations into shared commitments.

Selected work

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Speaking

Panels, conferences and working sessions

  • 2025

    Artist residencies as infrastructure

    WOMEX 25 · Tampere, Finland

  • 2025

    Panels of the JMC — visibility for women in the music industry

    Journées Musicales de Carthage · Tunis, Tunisia

  • 2024

    The creation of FEMENA Network & female advocacy in the music industry

    Amsterdam Dance Event — XP Conversations · Amsterdam, Netherlands

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A project, a panel, a collaboration?

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