Strategy Art Consultants

Abdullatif Al-Kooheji

International specialist in media & university affairs.

A specialist in the fields of media, public relations and university affairs, holds a master’s degree in public relations and media from Al-Ahlia University in the Kingdom of Bahrain. He started working in the press and news department at Bahrain TV, and then held several administrative positions at the University of Bahrain, starting with the editor in the Public Relations Department, passing through the Admissions Department, the management of the University of Bahrain Alumni Club, and the management of the Student Activities Department at the same university. He also worked as an observer for cultural communication in the Department of Culture and Arts in the Ministry of Information.

Ghassan al Shehabi

A journalist who founded several Bahraini newspapers, Al Shihabi is a household name in Arab Gulf press. He is also a researcher in media affairs and political Islam, and the winner of the 2007 Arab Journalism Award. In addition to his editorial work and literary writing, Al Shehabi produced and presented several radio and television programs. He has been delivering training workshops on media skills for two decades. He is a certified trainer with the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) Network.

Eman Marhoon

Marhoon has been the Corporate Communications Manager at Bahrain Airport Company since 2017. With her we fly in the open skies of the media world. An academician in media studies, Marhoon worked as producer and presenter of radio and television programs in Bahrain. She offers training courses on ways to present TV programs, lay down media strategies, draft media production budgets, and evaluate TV programs artistically and editorially. She also works as media adviser, particularly on television affairs.

Béchara El Bon

Paris-based Lebanese journalist and writer Béchara El Bon has been one of the most prominent experts in Arab and foreign media over the past 40 years. During his long career, he assumed several media posts, including director of Radio Monte Carlo (RMC) Middle East, adviser to the chairman of Radio France Internationale (RFI) Group, political commentator for the International Mediterranean Radio, and Annahar bureau chief in Europe. El Bon has a PhD in contemporary history from the Sorbonne University. He was awarded the Order of Arts and Letters – grade Chevalier from France. His media positions also included President of the Lebanese Journalists Association in France, Vice President of the Foreign Press Association in France, and Vice President of the Francophone Journalists Forum. He continues to write in several media sites and offers media advisory in many Arab and European countries.

Fadi Matar

If you talk about Arabic-language media training, particularly broadcast media, Fadi Matar will certainly be one of the first experts you will think of. He is one of the most prominent media trainers, especially on voice concentration and ways of presentation. Since 2006, Matar has been the head of the Arab world training program at a media academy affiliated with France 24 and RMC International. In this role, he delivered hundreds of training courses for Arab television and radio stations. He cooperates with leading training academies in the Arab world and advises major international organizations involved in media training.

For years, Matar produced, presented, or directed programs for Radio France Internationale and RMC International. He also worked in cinema, theatre, and TV production. He holds a post-graduate certificate in this field from the University of Paris.

Hiam Hamwi

Those familiar with the history of Arabic-speaking audio and visual media, particularly the history of radios and their golden age, certainly know “RMC’s velvet voice” of Hiam Hamwi, who was in the early seventies one of the founders of the RMC Arabic service. Hamwi started her media journey in 1968 at Damascus Radio’s French program. In addition to producing and presenting radio programs on RMC and later on the Paris-based Radio Orient in Arabic, she also served as a correspondent for many websites. She also gives training at many Arab radio and TV stations. After all that media and cultural experience in Paris, she returned to Damascus where she serves as head of programs at Sham FM radio. She delivers customized media training courses and sets strategies for broadcast stations.

Ghassan Hajjar

A journalist with Annahar newspaper since 1996, Hajjar became the newspaper’s managing editor in 2009. He supervises Annahar Training and Research Center. He is also the secretary of Nahar al Shabab. He teaches press editing at the Antonine University. Hajjar is a social activist in a number of organizations. Previously, he served as global vice president of Midad, a movement concerned with children’s rights and has presence in about 50 countries. He is the educator and trainer of a generation of young media people. He now delivers media courses in several Arab countries.

Ziad Harfoush

The Director of the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) has had his name established in Lebanese, and indeed Arab, journalism since he was a university student and while preparing for his post-graduate diploma in journalism. Harfoush served as the editorial secretary of Annahar newspaper, where he wrote articles and investigative reports since 1995. For years, he worked for the General News department of the NNA, which is affiliated with the Lebanese Ministry of Information, before becoming the NNA Director. As specialist in print media, Harfoush is one of the best press and editing trainers in the Arab world.

Najwa Barakat

Najwa Barakat is a Lebanese writer who holds a diploma in theater studies and another in cinema studies from Paris. The seven novels she wrote in Arabic were translated into foreign languages. She also wrote various film scripts. In addition to her literary work, Barakat worked for print and audio-visual media. In 2009, she set up “muhtaraf Najwa Barakat: How to write a novel for literature, theater, and cinema”, a project that has to date accomplished 23 novels published by renowned Arab publishing houses, with some of them winning prestigious literary prizes.

Elie Flouty

Elie Flouty, our consultant and current adviser to the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, holds a PhD degree in media from University of Paris II. He was a founder dean of the Media College at the Antonine University in Beirut. He served as the radio and television development adviser at the Bahraini Minister of Information between 2010 and 2012 before moving to the Bahraini Ministry of Culture. He is also an adviser to the (UNESCO affiliated) Arab Regional Center for World Heritage.

Dr. Flouty worked for audio-visual media in Lebanon and Paris (Mont Liban Radio, Canal+ television, and RMC) in addition to teaching at the University of Paris III and the Antonine University. He also provided language supervision for news and television programs. He delivers lectures and provides media consultancy and training in the Arab world and Europe.

Richard Duebel

International Arts and Culture Adviser and Consultant

25 years’ experience as a film maker and photographer. Richard was the Winner of the Venice Biennale photography prize for two successive years. He has collaborated with the Opera de Paris, France and he is a regular broadcaster on CNN, BBC, Reuters, Associated Press…
Richard is a lecturer for top US colleges on a range of subjects concerning arts and culture in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and, Adviser on staging exhibitions, promotional campaigns.
He has as a wide ranging of archive footage and photographs from around the world with particular emphasis on Arab, European, American, and African countries encapsulating the shifts and changes that have often been overlooked.

Sylvia Smith

International Arts and Culture Adviser and Consultant

A skilled word-smith with outlets around the world, writer, drafter of speeches, Sylvia has over 25 years’ experience in putting pen to paper – writing scripts and broadcasting, voice overs in English.
She is adept at crafting texts, subtitles and marketing art exhibitions based on contacts in countries from American to Zanzibar via the Arab world and Mauretania, and Expert on Middle Eastern and African photography and art.
Sylvia has a large experience as moderator of debates, radio announcer and designer of sounds and music, and she is currently engaged with the BBC.