June, 1997:

Visual Arts:

Palestinian artist Samia Halaby on a tour of Syria, Jordan and Palestine, gave a series of demonstrations of her computer artwork at the Sakakini and in Jerusalem.

On the occasion of the events organized by the Jerusalem Link organizations "Sharing Jerusalem: Two Capitals for Two States", two joint Palestinian-Israeli exhibits were organized in Jerusalem galleries:

The Wasiti Art Center featured a show called "Down with Occupation…30 years later" with the same group of artists that had participated in the 1987 exhibit protesting the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza by Israel. Among the 61 artists participating are: Abed Abdi , Diri Almog, Udi Aloni, Taleb & Youssef Dweik, Jawad Malhi , Sliman Mansour , Ruth Scloss, David Wakstein, etc..

At Anadiel Gallery, a number of Palestinian and Israeli artists presented sculptures, installations, video art and photos evoking the domestic domain. The show titled "Home" featured Mona Hatoum , Rana Bishara, Khalil Rabah , Yehudit Sasporpes, Ido Par-El, and Moshe Ninio among others.

Palestinian artist Latifa Youssef held an exhibit of her works at the Popular Arts Center in El Bireh, her first in Palestine since her 1967 exile and since her recent return.

Music

In the framework of the Jerusalem Link events, a number of jazz concerts by women were organized: A recital by pianist/singer Aziza Mustafa Zadeh, a Pakistani musician residing in Germany; a recital by Swedish expatriate singer Karin Abdelatif accompanied by pianist Nadia Abboushi; and a recital by Jazz pianist Liz Magnes.

The National Conservatory of Music organized recitals in Ramallah and Jerusalem by visiting American oboist Mark Weiger , and pianist Robert Conway .

Theater

Jerusalem-based Theater Day Productions began in Hebron during the month of April a unique theater training project, that ended with the production of Bertolt Brecht’s "How Much is your Iron" in June, with local actors. The TDP-produced play "Bridge to Eternity" by Ghassan Kanafani opened in Jerusalem after touring a number of Palestinian cities in 1997. Haifa’s Arab Theater "Accidental death of an Anarchist" continued performing this month at the Palestinian National Theater in Jerusalem , after its Jerusalem Festival premiere.

Cinema

Both the El Bireh Popular Arts Center and the Palestine National Theater in Jerusalem organized Youssef Chahine retrospectives to mark the director’s recent Cannes award.

A number of Palestinian cities saw the holding of the second annual French-Arab film festival , featuring a week of French shorts , as well as recent Arab films co-produced with the French. Among the films screened: Palestinian "Rabab" by Rachid Machraoui, and "Chronicle of a disappearance" by Elie Suleiman; Algerian "Salut Cousin" by Merzak Allouache , and "Machaho" by Belkacem Hadjadj; Egyptian Yousry Nasrallah’s "Mercedes"; and the French documentary "Belles Etrangþéres: Palestine" by Tunisian director Mustapha Hasnaoui, featuring interviews with the Palestinian authors participating in the Palestinian spring cultural celebrations in France . The festival was co-organized by the Popular Arts Center.