Arts Nurture Program

This program encompasses the main work of the Sakakini, in order to support and broaden the horizons young visual artists, documents the Palestinian art scene, and spread visual arts awareness among the youth.  and fragmentation of the land and the people of Palestine. The program began in earnest in 2000 thanks to grants from the Ford Foundation. In addition to the exhibitions program detailed elsewhere in the website, the Sakakini also works on the following issues:
 

Summer Art School

The Summer Art School aims to fill the gaps in art education in Palestine by, firstly, expanding young Palestinian artists’ knowledge of current trends in contemporary arts and, secondly, providing a space for the critical debate of conceptual issues in contemporary arts. The Sakakini Centre’s Summer Art School is timely: With Israeli-imposed restrictions on travel abroad, young Palestinian artists now have the opportunity to develop their talents in a local setting, & in their native language.
 

The 2003 Summer Art School, run by both local and visiting Diaspora artists including Hussni Radwan, Emily Jacir, Khaled Hourani, Sliman Mansour, Tayseer Barakat, Ziyad Dajani and Vera Tamari, gave 10 Palestinian art students and 5 independent Palestinian artists a brief introduction to the history of art and art techniques.
 

The 2004 Summer Art School addressed critical issues in contemporary art history, while centering on five conceptual themes -identity, space, time, place, and irony - in late 20th century art, with illustrations of works by contemporary Palestinian and Arab artists. Dr. Tina Sherwell, a local arts scholar, published a booklet covering the contents of the 2004 Summer Art School; this booklet was translated into Arabic, distributed to the 15 participants (Fine Arts students at Najah University from Nablus, Jenin, Qalqilya and Tuklarem), and shared with artists and institutions across Palestine.  The Summer Art School will continue in 2005 & 2006, with a practice oriented addition.
 

 Schools (2000-2004)

The Arts Education Program touches annually 180 children from 8 UNRWA, public and private schools in the greater Ramallah area. This program allows for regular visits by the children to art exhibits at the Sakakini Cultural Centre. Upon visiting the exhibits, the children & their art teacher are invited to participate in a short art workshop and are then provided with all art supplies, & a free colour brochure of the exhibit. The program was the first of its kind, & aimed to fill the gaps in visual arts education in schools. The program will end in 2005 due to budget cuts, but will serve as model for schools to adopt independently.