JERUSALEM: Events begin to mark its designation as Arab Capital of Culture for 2009

Record ID: 566577

  • Title: JERUSALEM: Events begin to mark its designation as Arab Capital of Culture for 2009
  • Date: 11th July 2008
  • Summary: SCARECROW AS A FORM OF ARTWORK AT STREET CORNER POSTER OF 'THE JERUSALEM SHOW' VISITORS AND ARTISTS INSIDE EXHIBITION HALL VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LOOKING AT PAINTINGS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) JACK PERSEKIAN, HEAD OF AL-MAMAL FOUNDATION FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, SAYING: "We (Palestinian residents of Jerusalem) are isolated now. We are Palestinians, but it seems like we are living outside Palestine, our society. Our relatives who live in Gaza and West bank are isolated from us. It is hard for them to see us, or come to Jerusalem. We are trying in our activities to assure our Palestinian existence in this city." VISITORS LOOKING AT ART EXHIBITS
  • Embargoed: 26th July 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVADXJ30KQW0FZ9YYEC89I26TQLB
  • Story Text: The Jerusalem Show, an art exhibition featuring the works of 26 Palestinian and International artists, kicks off in the in the Old City of Jerusalem this week.
    Works of art, including photography, sculpture, painting, and visual arts, are installed throughout the roads and alleys of the Old City in various locations.
    The show is a cooperation of local and international artists and Palestinian Jerusalem residents.
    Organisers of the "Jerusalem Show" say the event provides a way to emphasize the Palestinian heritage and history in the holy city.

    "We (the Jerusalem residents) are isolated now. We are Palestinians, but it seems like we are living outside Palestine, our society.
    Our relatives who live in Gaza and West bank are isolated from us. It is hard for them to see us, or come to Jerusalem. We are trying in our activities to assure our Palestinian existence in this city," Jack Persekian, the head of al-Mamal Foundation for Contemporary Art, and an organiser of the event, said.
    The exhibition, organised and funded by private institutions, coincides with the Arab League's declaration of Jerusalem as the Arab Cultural Capital for 2009.
    Al Mamal foundation for Contemporary Art, established in 1994 is dedicated to promoting and facilitating artworks with the Jerusalem Arab community, is one of many other local institutions who are are organizing dozens of events to celebrate Jerusalem as the Arab Cultural Capital in 2009.
    Israel has prevented many of the events marking the city as an Arab Cultural Capital from occurring, particularly those organised by, or under the sponsorship of the Palestinian Authority.
    For many artists, the event in Jerusalem provides a forum to exhibit their work and exchange cultural experiences.
    Norwegian Artist Henrik Placht is asking anybody who has hurt another human being to apologise for their actions. It's the basis for his artwork, aptly entitled "Apologize". He says that the exhibition is a way to open artistic dialogue.

    "So when I got the invitation from Al Mamal foundation, I got it on the 13th of February. It was very strange accident, I mean by accident. It was the same day the Australian government apologized to the Aborigines in Australia for the way they have been treating the Aborigines way down in so many generations," Placht said.
    The Arab Capital of Culture is an initiative undertaken by UNESCO under the Cultural Capitals Programme to promote and celebrate Arab culture and encourage cooperation in the Arab region, similar to the European and American Capitals of Culture programs. Arab cities were first included in the Cultural Capitals Program in 1998. Since then, such cities as Cairo, Khartoum, Riyadh and Algiers have been named Arab Capitals of Culture Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has issued a presidential decree to form a national committee to organise the events in 2009. Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish will head the committee. This year's Capital of Arab Culture is the Syrian capital of Damascus.
    According to UNESCO's Web site, the programme's aims are "to provide the Arab countries with a framework within which to develop their cultural heritage, preserving the past but placing particular emphasis on the future, opening the Arab world to new influences and technologies while safeguarding the integrity of Arab heritage. It should especially promote contemporary literary, artistic, scientific and intellectual Arab culture."
    But separating between arts and politics in Jerusalem, which lies at the heart of conflicts in the Middle East, could poise a major challenge to organisers and participants.
    While Israel considers Jerusalem as its undivided capital, Palestinians want the capital for their own eventual state in Jerusalem.
    Since Israel was established in 1948, no formal sovereignty over Jerusalem was recognised by the United Nations and international powers.
    When Israel and the Arab states went to war again in 1967, Israel seized East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan. It later annexed East Jerusalem and surrounding West Bank villages into a Jerusalem municipality that it declared the united and eternal capital of Israel. World powers do not recognise that.
    Approximately 250,000 Palestinians are living in what Israel calls the Jerusalem Municipality, alongside half a million Jews.
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