Rawkan is a self-organized artist residency in Dahab, South Sinai, Egypt, founded in May 2026. Set where the Sinai desert mountains meet the Red Sea's reef-lined coast, it operates within a landscape shaped by the sea, the desert, and the craft traditions of the region's Bedouin communities. The program brings together local and visiting artists for independent practice, exchange, and collaboration.
At its core, Rawkan is conceived as an exchange: each cohort brings together artists based in Dahab and artists arriving from abroad, so the stay is a dialogue rather than a one-way visit. Time, practice, and perspective are shared between people from here and people from elsewhere.
The house you stay in is also where you work. Rooms and studio space share the same roof, so there's no commute between living and making. The program favors long, unhurried stays over short showcases, and residents pay a day rate that covers their room, food, and studio, while also supporting Dahab's local artists and craftspeople directly.
Rawkan favors sustained, independent practice over a packed schedule. Outside the organised trips, your time is your own.
Covers your room, wifi, food, and transfer from Sharm El Sheikh airport or by bus from Cairo. Residents also get group trips organised through the season, and materials support where it's needed and available locally. Staying at Rawkan also puts money directly into Dahab's local economy and its artists and craftspeople.
Rawkan is open to creative practitioners across disciplines: visual artists, writers, dancers, musicians, researchers, textile artists, and interdisciplinary makers. Rather than prescribing a theme, the residency supports independent practice within a shared frame: the relationship between making, place, and the people who live there.
There is no production deadline and no final exhibition requirement. That said, we are building partnerships with foreign cultural programs based in Cairo, and there is a space in Dahab where we can showcase your work or performances. The focus remains on sustained engagement: with your own work, with the landscape, and with the cohort around you.
Most residencies host visiting artists in a place. Rawkan is built around a mixed cohort: artists from Dahab and artists from abroad, living and working side by side. The residency is as much for the local community as it is for visitors.
Beyond the immediate cohort, Rawkan actively facilitates connections with artists and craftspeople from across Egypt, from Cairo, Alexandria, Sinai, and beyond. Residents who want to develop collaborative projects, learn from local makers, or situate their work within a broader Egyptian context are supported in doing so.
If your practice requires something more specific, we can help find you a suitable space nearby. There's no separation between the studio and the home. You wake up, and your work is already there. This shapes a different rhythm: slower, more continuous, less compartmentalized.
The desert mountains, the reef, and the light are not backdrop. They're part of the working conditions.
Rawkan favors unhurried time. Minimum stays are measured in weeks, not days, and the program is designed for depth rather than output.
The day rate doesn't just cover your own stay: it circulates through Dahab. Rent goes to locals, meals are cooked by local hands, and local artists and craftspeople are paid for their work and knowledge. The residency is embedded in its place, not extracted from it.
The Bedouin craft heritage of the region isn't a theme to be studied. It's part of the place you're living in, and often part of the people you're living with.
Rooms and workspace share the same roof, in accommodation around town. There's no commute and no separate site to manage. Space is arranged around the four residents in town at any time, and shaped by whatever each artist's practice needs.
There's no jury panel and no fixed deadline. Applications are reviewed as they arrive, and dates are confirmed based on availability.