March, 1998:

* Cinema:

-The Popular Arts Centre organized in El Bireh and Ramallah an international film festival commemorating the Nakba’s 50th anniversary. The new Palestinian film "Heaven before I die" by Isidore Musallam was premiered on opening night. A number of European and Latin American films dealing with oppression and revolution were screened along with numerous classic Palestinian films, and UNRWA & ICRC documentaries on Palestinian refugees

* Visual Arts:

- In Ramallah, the new Matall gallery hosted a joint exhibit by Palestinian artist Mohammed Salah El Khalil and Indian painter Sabha De, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of India’s independence

*Music:

- The French cultural centers network organized recitals by Opera singer Caroline Dumas in Bethlehem and Gaza, a recital of French -folk- provençal music in Nablus, and a renaissance music recital by guitarist Bernard Piris and Luthist Brigitte Repiton. All musicians gave master classes at the National conservatory of Music.

- French pop singer Sapho gave concerts in Gaza city and Ramallah, in a successful program of Um Kalthoum, Andalusian classical songs from Algeria and Morocco, Spanish songs, as well as French and English songs of her composition.

- The Baladna community & cultural center hosted a recital by the German Mandelring string Quartet, in a program of Debussy, Ravel and Bach.