Other News of Palestinian Culture
May, 1997:
Literature:Bir Zeit Universitys Arabic department hosted a conference on contemporary Palestinian literature. The three day conference gathered a number of prominent local literary scholars and authors, in addition to a number of Jordanian participants. Among some of the themes discussed were: The concept of resistance literature, literature and attachment to the land, the Palestinian identity in Palestinian literature, Poetic discourse in the Palestinian narrative, the narrative discourse of Palestinian women, the self and the other in the Palestinian novel, the Israeli Jewish image in Israeli Arab literature, etc.. In addition to the presentation of a number of other papers specific to the works of Mahmoud Darwish, Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, Emile Habibi, Abdellatif Aqel and Ghassan Kanafani.
A new collection of short stories appeared by author Iman el Bassir, titled: Jassad min Bakhour (body of incense).
Issue #10 of the literary quarterly Ishtar appeared in Gaza city, featuring a number of new short stories, poems by Palestinian authors, interviews, editorials, etc..
The city of Bethlehem held its annual Arabic Books book fair.
Music
South African Jazz pianist Abdallah Ibrahim gave a recital in Ramallah in a tour sponsored by the South African mission and the National Conservatory of Music.
French Oud (Arab Lute) musician Marc Loopuyt gave master classes at the National Conservatory of Music, and a recital in Ramallah.
Visual Arts
Anadiel Gallery in Jerusalem hosted an exhibit by expatriate Palestinian artist Suzan Hijab, on her first return visit to Palestine since her 1948 exile from Jaffa. She lives and works in Frankfurt.
Najah University in Nablus hosted an exhibit of photographs and designs of works by young German contemporary architects, in cooperation with the Jerusalem Goethe Institute.
Theatre
The year-long Jerusalem festival concentrated this month on theatre, presenting a number of plays from the Arab world:
"Medea" (Jordans Theatre Syndicate), adapted & directed by Hakim Harb, based on the classic Pierre Corneille text.
"Accidental Death of an Anarchist" (Haifa Arab Theatre), based on Dario Fos text translated by Anton Shammas, & directed by Daniel Gidron.
"Martyrs are returning" (Ashtar Theatre Company, Jerusalem-Ramallah), adapted and directed by Sameh Hijazi, from Algerian Tahar Ouettars novel.
"Liberate the Soul" (Fardi theatre, Morocco), written by Abdel Haq Zerouali, directed by A. Diniyyeh.
"The Child of Light" (Allaz theatre company, Rama, Israel), based on Moroccan Tahar Ben Jellouns novel, adapted and directed by Mazen Ghattas.
"The Trash Collector" (Jordans Medeas Mirror theatre company), written by Mamdouh Adwan, and directed by Hatem Assayed.
"The Exception & the Rule", produced jointly by Gazas Theatre Lab, & Theatre Day Productions, was not staged due to the Israeli imposed closure, and the subsequent inability of the cast to obtain the necessary passes to exit the Gaza strip...
Three round table discussions on the margins of the festival were held at the Ashtar Theatre school in Ramallah, the first on the Palestinian cause in Arab theatre, the second one on women in Arab theatre, and the last one on the use of classical Arabic, versus colloquial Arabic in theatre productions.
Theatre Day Productions, a locally based Dutch NGO, produced a play by poet Zakaria Mohammed: Al Khamissa baad Azzawal (Five in the Afternoon) in Beit Jala (near Bethlehem). The play was directed by actress Raeda Ghazaleh.
Death & the Maiden which opened in Jerusalem last month, went on tour throughout Palestinian cities, beginning with Ramallah this month.
Other
For the first time since the 1930s, two religious religious-folkloric festivals were revived: The Nabi Musa Festival in Jericho, and the Nabi Saleh Festival in the village of Nabi Saleh near Ramallah, each one for a week. The festivals (or Mawassem) saw the participation of scout troops, religious processions, and handicrafts stands from all the cities of the West Bank. Because of the continued closure, there were no Gaza participants. The festivals are dedicated to prophets who have shrines in those areas. Both festivals were first established by Saladin in post-crusades time, and were popular yearly celebrations, interrupted by the political upheavals that have beset Palestine since the 1930s.
Two new cultural centers were inaugurated in the north. In Nablus, the Yasmina opened with the Sakakini-transferred Nabil Anani exhibit , and the second one opened in the locality of Zababdeh, near Jenine.
Najah University in Nablus hosted a lecture on educator Qadri Touqan.
April, 1997:
Cultural Activities this month were few in Palestine, due to the tense political situation, causing the cancellation of a number of events, and to the Adha and Easter holidays. These activities took place however:Literature:
As a follow up to the Writers Union International Conference (see March) a few authors remained behind, and participated in a number of local activities. Notably, English poet Benjamin Zephaniah gave poetry readings at the Sakakini, in Hebron and Gaza city.
French poet Bernard Noel gave readings in Jerusalem, Gaza city, Nablus and participated in Ramallah, in a joint reading with poet Ghassan Zaqtan
Issue #51 of Al-Karmel, the literary quarterly edited by Poet Mahmoud Darwish was published.
Poet Aniseh Darwish also gave a reading from her new collection at the Jerusalem National Theatre.
The Ramallah-based Tamer Institute launched its annual reading campaign aimed at children. It featured events in most of the Palestinian towns, including Nazareth and Haifa. The events scheduled were childrens book exhibits, public discussions, plays, competitions, etc.. Activities in Hebron were postponed due to the tension there, and some theatrical activities in Gaza city, Haifa and Nazareth were cancelled due to the refusal of Israeli military authorities to grant entry passes to the actors.
Music
The year-long Jerusalem festival concentrated on jazz in April, and presented a number of acts in Jerusalem and Ramallah, such as the Kurdish-German-American Nubun group, Enzo Rao from Italy, and the Austro-Palestinian quartet Abado.
The Jerusalem -based National Theatre hosted a Bach recital by the German Siegen choir, Arabic classical music recitals by local artists Khalil Abu Nicola, Mohammed Abu Khater, Mahmoud Qaraein, Ibrahim Farah, and Ali Musa.
Composer Mustapha Kurd gave a recital of his recent works at the Nablus Hammam Shifa, sponsored by the French Cultural Center.
The Jerusalem YWCA Choir gave a recital in Ramallah, of works by Haydn and Haendel.
Visual Arts
The Marseilles based youth cultural NGO DIA opened a branch in Palestine and began its activities with an exhibit by young Palestinian artists in Gaza city.
The Ramallah French Cultural center hosted an exhibit featuring the designs of the new "Great Library" in Paris.
The Jerusalem French Cultural Center hosted a retrospective exhibit by visiting artist Fleur-Marie Fuentes: "The colors of Exile". Fuentes arrived in Palestine this month, to paint a fresco in an old Nablus soap factory converted into a museum.
Theatre
The National Theatre revived the 1990 play about life in a prisoners camp "Ansar", written by Nidal Khatib, Fateh Azzam, and Abed Jubeh.
The Theatre also produced two childrens plays, and hosted a childrens play by the visiting Canadian troop Mur Mur.
The Nablus based Dar el Masrah presented in cooperation with the local French cultural Center a bilingual play called "Drole dImmeuble", based on texts by poet Jacques Prevert, written & directed by Catherine Charrier.
March, 1997:
Literature
The main cultural event of the month was the holding of the Palestinian Writers' Union first international conference, held at Bir Zeit University from the 22nd to the 25th.
Before the conference began, controversy swirled around the conference, mainly due to the refusal of Israeli authorities to grant visas to a number of Arab participants, and the refusal of a number of Arab writers to come at all, in opposition to the Israeli control of the borders.
The conference, however, was a success, with the majority of the rest of the international participants coming. The theme of the conference was "New Themes for a New Era". topics discussed were: the role of intellectuals, the new millennium, the political claims of literature, the west and Islam, culture and the new world order, etc.
Writers in attendance were: Moroccan author Abdellatif Laabi, Egyptian novelist Lotfi Khouly, the majority of Palestinian poets and writers, chief among them Mahmoud Darwish, French poet Bernard Noel, British poets Sarah McGuire and Benjamin Zephaniah, Norwegians Kirsti Bloom, Knut Odegard, Swedish author Ingrid Ilam, etc.. There were also two poetry evenings held on the margins of the conference.
Cinema
Director Rachid Machharaoui completed a documentary on the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, and spent the month in Turkey shooting his new movie.
The Popular Arts Centre in El Bireh continued its successful cinema showings, focusing this month on award winning films from around the world.
The Ministry of Culture's cinema section hosted a series of lectures all over the country by Palestinian film critic Alia Arsaghli on the image of women in Arab cinema.
Theatre
The Jerusalem-based Palestinian National Theatre continued with its successful multi faceted activities, staging short plays for children, and previewing the production of two new plays, Al Mukhad (Contractions) written and directed by Mohammed Zaher, and Al Moukhlissa Lek (Devoted to You) written by Larry Thomas, adapted and directed by Kamal Bacha.
The Ramallah based Asthar theatre school produced a play requiring participation from the audience, called Abou Shaker 97.
Visual Arts
The principal news of the month was the return of painters
Ismail Shammout and Tamam el Akhal. For their first visit for 30 years
to Palestine, they were honored with a tribute
at the Sakakini , and attended a documentary film screening of their
lives and works by Palestinian film maker Azza Hassan at the PAC.
JANUARY & FEBRUARY, 1997:
* Despite the bitter cold that reigned in Palestine, a
number of cultural activities were organized. The fasting month of Ramadan
coincided with the months of January and February, and traditional evening
music events were organized. The cities of Nablus and Hebron organizes
a number of such events, with a series of poetry readings, concerts, etc..
The most successful was the Jerusalem festival, which featured in January
& February a festival of Sufi music. A number of troops
from Morocco, Turkey, Jerusalem , etc.,, performed to great success.
* In El Bireh, the Popular Arts Center organized in January
and February a very successful festival of recent French films, due to
continue in March.
Other events:
Awards:
* On January 8, the Jerusalem prize for culture and arts
was awarded by the Ministry of Culture to poet Mohammed
Ali Taha in a ceremony at the KSCC.
* On January 18, the 1996 Constantine Kavafis poetry prize was awarded to poet Fadwa Tuqan in a ceremony in Nablus hosted by the Greek-Palestinian friendship society.
Literature:
* In Mid January, Issue #50 of Al-Carmel magazine was published after a three-year hiatus. The quarterly cultural journal's editor in chief is poet Mahmoud Darwich.
Theatre:
* At the end of January, the Palestinian production
of the acclaimed play 'Death and the Maiden" by the Chilean playwright
Ariel Dorfman opened to very favorable reviews at the Jerusalem Qassaba
Theatre. The play about torture, betrayal, and political struggle was adapted
to a Palestinian context. It features acclaimed actors Areen Omari and
Mohammed Bakri, and will tour Palestinian cities after its Jerusalem run.
* Later in February, the play "Martyrs return ..(this
week)" will open in Jerusalem. It opened in 1996 in Ramallah and toured
in Nablus. The play was adapted and produced by the Ashtar Theatre school
and company, based on the novel by the same name by Algerian author Tahar
Ouettar. Lead actress Iman Aoun won the best actress award at the 1996
Cairo International Experimental Theatre Festival for the role.
Visual Arts:
* A number of Art exhibits opened in January and February, among them:
- The graphics exhibit of Ismail Shammout which opened
in December in Jerusalem and opened in Ramallah in February,
- The group exhibit of the New Visions group (S.
Mansour, V.Tamari, N.Anani,
T. Barakat) of their paintings
and works reproduced on carpets. The show opened in December in Khan Younis,
and in February in Jerusalem at the Wasiti Art Center.
- Artist Khalil Rabah also held an exhibit of seven new works at the Anadiel Gallery in Jerusalem's old city.
* In related news, artist Samir Salameh returned to Palestine, after a long exile through Syria and Paris. He executed murals at the Red Crescent Society's El Bireh and Khan Younis offices, and was recently appointed director general for the visual arts at the ministry of Culture.
1996 has witnessed a cultural explosion of sorts, with
an increase in cultural events of all forms, big and small. Among them:
* The holding of 12 cultural festivals all over Palestine,
many were taking place for the first time, or were revived after a 29 year
interruption. Festivals featured local acts as well as international ones.
Among them: the Palestine festival, the year-long Jerusalem festival, the
Sabastia festival, and the Ramallah festival.
* The production of 8 new theatrical productions,
and the revival of 4. Also, the Ashtar theatre school opened in Ramallah
in May. The children's theatre festival due to be held this year was postponed
to 1997 due to the repeated closures,
* The opening of the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre in
Ramallah, as well as a number of other Palestinian and foreign cultural
centres in the country,
* The return of a great number of Palestinian artists
and actors to Palestine, chief among them, poet Mahmoud Darwish, who announced
the resumption of the publication of Al Karmel literary review from
Palestine, and who gave readings of his poems to rave reviews and packed
audiences at Bir Zeit and Najah Universities,
* The phenomenal success of the first
Palestinian book fair in Gaza , attended by over 190,000 people, buying
500,000 books in 13 days.
* The increase in the number of public concerts, book
publications and art exhibits,
* The critical and popular success of the film "Haifa",
by director Rachid Machharawi, shown at the Cannes film festival,
and award winner at a number of other festivals.
*The holding of three film festivals, the opening of a cinema club, and the opening of three renovated movie theatres.
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