1998
FEBRUARY
The Ramallah premiere of the biographical Mahmoud Darwish documentary "Al
Ardou Turathou Kallugha" (The land is inherited like the language),
took place at the Sakakini, followed by a long & lively debate between
the audience & the French filmmaker, Simone Bitton. The film will be
aired in April on French TV (FR3), as part of a series on important writers
of the XXth Century.
- Al -Moutachael ended its 3 months' long successful run at the Centre..
- The documentary film "The Power Of Song" was premiered, showing
the journey of Bill Badley, a British Lute player, in 1997 through Palestine
-& Palestinian music. The film features performances by, & interviews
with, a number of Palestinian musicians such as Samir Jubran, Khaled Jubran,
Rima Tarazi, Tania Nasser, Jordan Valley folk musicians, etc..
- The Centre hosted the 12th exhibit, (& 2nd at the Centre) of Taysir
Sharaf: "Miniatures". The show signaled a new departure in Sharaf's
well known work: a focus on miniatures, in an attempt to revive this classic
Islamic art form, in a freer & modernist execution.
- The Sakakini also hosted one of its regular meetings with artists:
slide show of recent works & short video film screening; this time
with newcomer to the local art scene Hassan Hourani. Hourani graduated
from Baghdad's school of fine arts , and has already represented Palestine
at the Alexandria 1997 Biennial. His works consist mainly of sculptures
& installations combining wood, tree branches, twigs, & metals.
- Finally, among the Center's Nakba 50th anniversary commemoration activities:
A new website was launched devoted to telling the human story of the Palestinian
tragedy, poet Ali el Khalili spoke within the "Palestinian Intellectuals
& the Nakba Lecture Series", material on the Nakba was provided
for publication to the local Al Ayyam daily, and Egyptian English language
newspaper "The Ahram Weekly". Finally, artist Mohammed Salah
el Khalil was commissioned the design of a commemorative logo and poster,
distributed freely by the Sakakini .
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