Sham Spiritual Oasis is meant to serve as a way-station for an environmental, cultural and religious Protected Area, a place where people with different heritages can meditate, pray, rest and interact. It will be located in the Visitors' Center or Deir Mar Musa's Protected Area, neighboring an oriental monastery from the 6th century with marvelous frescos and a new monastic community of nuns and monks that committed to Islamic- Christian harmony building and Abrahamic hospitality.

Our Spiritual Oasis project seeks to emphasize existing inter-cultural relations and develop them in the spirit of encouraging spiritual and religious tourism. It takes into consideration the need for inter-traditional celebrative spaces; not mixing traditions, but promoting the full values of identities through deep interaction, while, at the same time, not forgetting Sham's diverse and rich culture. It is good to note that Syrian cultural is one in itself and plural in its elements. We encourage you not to stress on fixed solid religious identities, rather on interpreting the heritage of Spiritual Sham; that of 5000 years.

You are to develop your concept of the Oasis artistically through drawing a sketch and writing a composition in which you elaborate on the topic of the local culture welcoming others offering the gift of its own complexity.

The Spiritual Oasis is also meant to be a place of alternative tourism; one of social solidarity and caring about environmental and cultural sensitiveness, so please avoid wasting resources, especially non-renewable ones, and try to make a serious and informed consideration of the environment and eco-systems relevant to its positioning. The revival of cultural elements, especially on the level of handcrafts and arts is a priority for us, also, considering children, women, social factors, and handicapped facilities in your concept would be of added value to your project.

Sham Spiritual Oasis is meant to accommodate the following facilities:

• A space for meditation and contemplation.
• An educational museum focusing on the environment and cultures.
• A multi-purpose hall (for eating, meeting, learning, etc).
• Crafts workshops and selling points.
• A hostel of 100 beds.
• A camp site.
• Other facilities of the participant's choice (optional).

You are asked to present a piece of art, designed to be printed on A0 paper, Portrait format, in which you express at least:

1. Your vision of a site plan of the Oasis.
2. A presentation of one of the Oasis facilities.
3. A written composition where you will present your concept and your priorities in planning the Oasis.

Since this project is a project of dialogue in all its aspect, we ask you to present your text in English and Arabic languages and incorporate it in the pattern of your A0 piece of art. The written composition should form part of your piece of art; not external to it. You can also include the composition in a third language if you may.

Your written composition will express the main elements of your vision of the Oasis, as a laboratory for a culturally rooted future. We encourage you to consult with friends and colleagues and to tell us about your work-group fruition in your written composition.

We need your hope; don't be afraid of expressing your utopia!

We encourage you to research both, cultural and environmental aspects of the Oasis's setting before you begin work. Deir Mar Musa has a strong commitment to Islamic-Christian dialogue, has won the 2006 Anna Lindh Euro-Med Award for Dialogue between Cultures and enjoys a modest style of living. You may find helping materials on the Monastery's website [www.deirmarmusa.org], and on websites of partner organizations: COSV [www.cosv.org] and Tanween Arabian Cultural Center [www.arab-esque.cz].

Please read attentively the details on eligibility, site location, submission requirements, disqualification, and how to ask questions, also on deadlines, awards, the jury, assessment methods, in addition to some legal matters.

You will need to register online for this competition through this website, or through emailing info@shamspiritualoasis.org. Registered applicants will be sent a registration number, which should be used to identify submitted materials.

Nature and Aim of Competition

The purpose of this competition is to generate concepts and plans of a Spiritual Oasis that will be built in the Visitors' Centre of Deir Mar Musa Protected Area. This Oasis will be dedicated to welcoming and receiving people in search of spiritual and meditation space, joy, rest, and communion with others. The Oasis is expected to receive up to 1000 day-visitors in high season, and up to 200 who stay for the night. The Syrian state has allocated land to serve the realization of the project.

Site Location

Sham Spiritual Oasis is to be located in the park called "Wadi Deir Mar Musa Protected Area", which has an area of about 250 hectares, and precisely in the park's Visitors' Centre, which has an area of about 14 hectares.

A link to photographs of the site and other supporting information is available through this website.

Eligibility Qualifications

To participate in this competition you should be a citizen of one of:

• A contracting party of the European Economic Area Agreement   (the 27 EU member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) ,
• an Arab country or a territory beneficiary of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership instrument  (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestinian Authority of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Syria, Tunisia) , or
• a country beneficiary of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance  (Croatia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo).

You should also be a student of art or architecture in one of the latter countries or territories, and under 30 years old at the time of the deadline for submitting materials (June 15, 2008).

The competition is for students under 30 years of age, but if you are an artist or architect from a legible country or territory, you do not qualify to participate but wish to share your vision of Sham Spiritual Oasis with the world, you may do so; following the same criteria and conditions set in this competition brief. However, you will not be competing on prizes and the jury will be entitled to deciding whether your work of art will be exhibited or not through a separate procedure from that used for students. Upon registration, please make sure to check the box that says "professional", or if you register via email, let us know you are. Failing to do so will disqualify your participation.

Submission Requirements

1. CD-ROM containing:
   1. A PDF file of your A0 print, Portrait format, with a minimum resolution of 300 DPI. Please write your name on the CD and have your registration number as the File Name of your print. Your written composition on the print should have Font Size 16 at least, and 400 words maximum per language.
   2. ADDITIONAL COPIES of the written compositions (in all languages used), Portrait Format, PDF Files, on A4 paper. Name your files using the registration number provided, then the name of the text's language (English, Arabic, [third optional language]).
2. A copy of proof of eligibility (valid student card, passport, ID card, driving license).
3. A completed official Competition Entry Form (link provided through this website).

Submitted materials should be sent by fully prepaid mail to the following address of COSV organization:

Sham Spiritual Oasis Competition
COSV
Via Soperga n. 36
20127 MILANO
ITALY

Or hand delivered to the monastery of Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi. The final date for receiving materials sent on the 15th of June is June 30, 2008. Please write "Not to be opened till deadline" in a clear way on your envelope. If you are sending materials as a professional, please indicate it on the envelope by writing the word "-professional" next to "Sham Spiritual Oasis Competition".

It is the participant's responsibility to verify submission, whether through having a signed confirmation of receipt from Deir Mar Musa's person in charge, or the receipt of sending materials via registered mail.

Disqualification

Entries shall be excluded from the competition if:

1. They are sent by mail or received after deadlines set in this competition brief.
2. They do not meet submission requirements.
3. A participant discloses his or her identity to, or attempts to influence in any way the decision of the Jury.

The organizers attain the right to renounce any project considered inappropriate. By entering the competition, you accept that some parts of your drawn sketch or written composition might be cut out of if they are considered not acceptable in the local context. We will inform you if that applies to you, and if you chose not to approve that procedure, your work will not be exhibited and you will not win the competition.

Qualified participants will be notified through this website after submission deadline.

Competitors' Questions

Competitors may submit questions till April 30, 2008 to the competition email address info@shamspiritualoasis.org. Answers will be posted periodically on the competition website, and 10 days after the questions deadline. Queries can be sent in English language only. Answers will form part of the regulations and the competition brief. Queries considered not relevant to the competition will not be answered.

Competition Timetable

• Questions deadline: April 30, 2008
• Registration deadline: May 15, 2008
• Submission deadline: June 15, 2008
• Announcement of Competition Winners: August 1, 2008
• First Exhibition in Damascus: September 2008
• Second Exhibition in Deir Mar Musa: October 2008

Awards

At least the top 20 entries will be exhibited at exhibitions in Damascus and Deir Mar Musa's Visitors' Centre. Winners will get to present their concepts in a conference preceding the exhibition opening in Damascus. Competition organizers will do their best to get the exhibition to travel through European and Mediterranean countries.

The first three winners will be awarded $1000 on the condition of spending the necessary amount of that money to attend the Damascus exhibition's opening conference. They will receive their prizes in Damascus afterwards.

Ideas presented through the competition will be used for inspiration to build an actual Sham Spiritual Oasis in Wadi Deir Mar Musa Protected Area's Visitor Center. If an idea is selected for implementation, the owner of the idea will be notified and credited. No contracting obligations are present.

Jury

Dima Akkad Tourekmani
Ghassan Khouri
Irene Labeyrie
Mustafa Ali
Paolo Dall' Oglio
Rafee Hakky
Wael Samhouri
Representative from COSV
Representative from Tanween Arabian Cultural Center

In the event of any Jury member being unable to act through illness or any other cause, competition organizers may appoint a suitable replacement. The Jury will be solely responsible for the selection of the finalists. Decisions of the Jury are final and will not be subject to review. No appeals from entrants concerning the decision of the Jury will be permitted and no correspondence will be entered into, neither with competition organizers nor with the European Commission.

Juror biographies are available through this website.

Assessment

Submissions shall be evaluated by the jury after an administrative check. The criteria for the evaluation will be compliance with this Brief, including demonstration of:

• an outstanding artistic and architectural statement.
• conformity to intercultural, inter-religious, environmental and developmental conditions and sensitivities of Sham Spiritual Oasis.
• efficiency in design and structure to permit practical and economic construction.
• creativity.

Please note that the criteria are not ranked in order of importance. Only English and Arabic texts will be used in the judging process. Authors shall hold the responsibility of accurate translation into all languages used.

Damage to Submissions

Competition organizers will exercise reasonable care but will not be responsible for loss or damage to submissions which may occur either in transit or during exhibition, storage or packing.

Copyright and Intellectual Property

Submitted competition materials will become the property of Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi and will not be returned to the authors, whether students or professionals. Deir Mar Musa reserves the right to proceed with construction of any entry, totally or partially, without contracting with the owner of that idea for construction or collaboration. However, credit of the idea's ownership will be maintained. In entering the competition, entrants grant Deir Mar Musa unrestricted license to exercise the entrants' rights regarding their submissions, including, but not limited to, reproduction, preparation of derivative works, distribution of copies of the design submission, and the right to authorize such use by others. Authors will always be credited for their ideas.