The Centre hosted the  exhibit of Syrian artist Marwan Qassab Bashi. Marwan is one of the most important Arab artists working today, and enjoys great fame in Europe. This exhibit,  organized in cooperation with the Ramallah Goethe Institut, was held as a result of  Marwan’s wish to donate  to  “the children of Palestine” a collection of 75 etchings of great value on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Nakba. These were distributed between the Sakakini and Bir Zeit University.

Professor Jorn Merkert, director of the Berlin Museum of Modern Art and chief expert on Marwan's work, attended the opening, commented a short documentary film on Marwan after the opening, and gave a lecture and slide show at the Bir Zeit opening.

This important gestures underscores the solidarity of international artists with the struggle of the Palestinian people, and the gift will serve as the nucleus for a museum of contemporary art works donated by international  artists, in solidarity with the people of Palestine, that the Sakakini will try to establish in Ramallah.

The exhibit featured mainly prints and etchings that showcased the most important phases of Marwan’s career: faces, people standing, face-landscapes, marionettes, etc.. The donation also featured a number of unique prints (1/1) and  watercolors. The exhibit’s poster was also a rare limited edition signed serigraphy.

Marwan was born in 1934 in Damascus, and has studied fine arts in Berlin. He  participated at the Venice Biennial, the Dokumenta, the Paris FIAC, and held numerous solo exhibitions throughout the world, among them at Paris’ Bibliothéque Nationale and Institut du Monde Arabe, and Amman’s Darat el Funoun. He is considered one of the leading visual artists of    Germany, and many of his works can be found in European museums.