The US Consulate General in Jerusalem, and the Palestinian Ministry of Culture in Ramallah opened a week-long art exhibit at the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The exhibit comes in celebration to the collaborative work of Helen Zughaib, an American artists, and twelve Palestinian female artists, the US Consulate stated.
US Consul for Press and Cultural Affairs, Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, said that the workshop is the result of close cooperation and hard work carried by the Sakakini Center, the Ministry of Culture, the Creative Women’s Forum and the US Consulate General in Jerusalem.
In a press release the US Consulate quoted Schweitzer-Bluhm stating that the “consulate is honored to be part of this cooperative effort that brought Helen Zughaib, an Arab-American artists, with this talented group of Palestinian women”.
Palestinian Minister of Culture, Tahani Abu Daqqa, stated that this exhibit presents a good opportunity for Palestinian and American artists to share stories, culture and art traditions, the US Consulate added.
Meanwhile, Zughaib praised the cooperation between the US Consulate and Ministry of Culture.
She added that this collaboration, which brings together Palestinians and Americans, “has started an important dialogue through art”, and that this cooperation will grow in the future.
The US Consulate added in its statement that Zughaib met with several young artists in the West Bank, and conducted workshops at Bir Zeit University near Ramallah.
Zughaib also conducted workshops at the Palestinian Technical College for Women, Al Teereh UNRWA college, the Young Artists Forum and the International Center of Bethlehem.
She also visited the Birzeit Ethnographic and Art Museum where she met with Director Vera Tamari and other Palestinian art experts to discuss opportunities for collaboration with American museums and ways of promoting art education in the Palestinian Territories, the US Consulate in Jerusalem said.
The Consulate also stated that the twelve Palestinian Artists who were selected by the Creative Women’s Forum are from the Jerusalem, Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin, Salfit and Hebron.
The Exhibit will open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will close on Thursday March 20, 2008.
