Launched by Ashkal Alwan in Beirut in 2011, HWP is an annual arts study program that invites participants to develop their formal, technical and theoretical skills in a critical setting, and provides enrolled fellows with feedback and resources to facilitate and support their art practice.

HWP is led by Lead Professors (LPs), who organize workshops and seminars based on their practices, and invite Visiting Professors (VPs) to lead seminars that complement their curriculum.

HWP was initially developed to explore interdisciplinary, critical models of art education in Lebanon and beyond where education is mostly privatized. Moreover, it aims to include a wide range of professors, all the while addressing geopolitical particularities in art and the educational landscape.