May, 1997:

Literature:

Bir Zeit University’s 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" (Jordan’s 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 Fo’s 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 Ouettar’s 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 Jelloun’s novel, adapted and directed by Mazen Ghattas.

"The Trash Collector" (Jordan’s Medea’s Mirror theatre company), written by Mamdouh Adwan, and directed by Hatem Assayed.

"The Exception & the Rule", produced jointly by Gaza’s 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 ba’ad 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.