New! July, 1997:

Visual Arts:

* The Ziryab Gallery & Café opened its doors in downtown Ramallah. Run by a group of Palestinian artists, it will be the first permanent visual arts gallery in Palestine.

* A photo exhibit by veteran Palestinian photographer Mahfouz Abu Turk was held in Jerusalem at the National Theater, and in Ramallah at the Mohammed Siyam Gallery.

* Photographer Mona Qawasmeh held an exhibit at the Jerusalem National Theater.

* Another photo exhibit opened in Jerusalem by French photographer Daniel Benloulou, at the American Colony Hotel.

Festivals

* July is the kick off of the festival season in Palestine. This year a number of festivals pooled their acts with the principal festival: the Palestine International Festival (PIF), organized yearly by the Popular Arts Center at Bir Zeit University’s historic campus.

The PIF featured well known acts from the Arab world such as singers Houria Aïchi from Algeria, Lotfi Boushnaq from Tunisia, the Jil Jilala group from Morocco; and from Palestine singer Reem Banna as well as a number of dance and chorus groups.

Among them the Yo`ad Dance company premiered its musical "Qatr al Nada", with lyrics by poet Samih Qassem, score by Nabil Azar, and choreography by A. Gussarov.

The festival also featured a number of pop music and dance companies from Spain, Sweden and Chili.

Among the many star attractions of the festival, the opening night featured a new joint dance production by two of the best folkloric dance companies in Palestine (Funoon and Sirreyet Ramallah), choreographed by Moroccan Faiza Talbaoui, with original music by Odeh Torjman, and scenography by Jamal Afghani.

* Other festivals organized this month: the Tulkarm Festival, the Gaza Nights Festival, and the year long Jerusalem Festival which concentrated this month on Arab music. The Bethlehem Festival featured in addition to the acts from the other festivals, a visual art exhibit by Adnan Zubeidi, and the Nazareth music & dance Jaffa Troop.

Literature

* The 25th anniversary of the assassination of novelist Ghassan Kanafani was marked by a series of events: a memorial held at the Siraj Theater in Ramallah attended by a number of Palestinian writers and addressed by poet Mahmoud Darwish, a number of roundtable discussions all over Palestine in cultural institutions and universities, and special editions of magazines and journals.

* The summer issue ( # 52) of the literary quarterly Al Karmel appeared, featuring the last interview of poet Allen Ginsberg, a new poem by Fadwa Touqan, an article by Mohammed Hassanein Haykal, etc.. The journal is also sold in Arab countries. A yearly compilation edition translated in French will appear later in 1997. A similar German language edition is in the works.

Theater

Theater "Massrahiyyet Meen" (Whose play ?) opened at the Jerusalem National Theater, produced by the Jerusalem Jawwal Theater company. Written and directed by Saqer Salaymeh.