(Ahmed
Deeb)
The Palestinian Festival is the first of
its kind and will be held from September 27 to October 20 2013 at the Durban
Art Gallery, consisting of a Palestinian Film Festival, a photographic
exhibition and cultural content reflecting the cultural heritage traditions.
Titled Phambili
Palestine Phambili, meaning Go
forward Palestine Strive Ahead, the exhibition is a national initiative
that is set to be launched at the Durban Art Gallery and will be staged in Cape
Town and Johannesburg with allied events being co-ordinated regionally thereafter
by national partners.
The exhibition launch on September 26 will
be hosted by the Mayor James Nxumalo, inaugurated by Deputy Minister Ebrahim
Ebrahim, and Ambassador of Palestine in South Africa HE Abel Hafez Nofal.
The Palestine Festival - South Africa 2013
aims to showcase to South Africans the current realities in Palestine’s modern
history. Through the photographic exhibition and film screenings, it will
explore various themes that depict Palestinian life since the beginning of the
19th century. Socially resonant stories are told in the images which come alive
beyond the confines of the two dimensional in an exhibition and film screenings
to inform and inspire discussion.
The festival, which is the first of its
kind, will feature content from Israeli, Palestinian and international photographers
and journalists - Ahmed Deeb and Mahmoud Emad Al Zanoon from the Gaza Strip,
and French photo journalist based in Ramallah Eloise Bollack, who is currently
in South Africa. South African content is provided by the Durban University of Technology’s
Department of Photography and feature Posters by South African school children
dedicated to the children of Palestine, from a Palestinian Solidarity Alliance competition
that had been dedicated to the children of Palestine.
A host of daily activities and events over
the three week duration are to be held at the Durban Art Gallery workshop
venues which include workshops that engage on diverse subject matter with
experts from Palestine and partner South African organisations. These include culture,
traditional handicrafts and heritage workshops which are to be displayed
alongside displays of product designs by the Irada Project for the Disabled
that supports young Palestinians disabled by the attacks on Gaza. Also featured
will be the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Sulafa traditional
Embroidery project that supports women of refugee camps of the Gaza Strip and a
host of Palestinian themed events will be staged across Durban. Fairtrade
Palestine Products from the organization named Zayotun will also be featured
along with their workshops.
Seminars will be held, focusing on
technical skills training for photography, photo journalism workshops with the
Faculty of Art and Design at Durban University of Technology (DUT), daily
walkabouts with the photographers, film screenings and educator workshops for
high schools, the book launch of Why
Israel? by South African authors Suraya Dadoo and Feroz Osman, and the
Palestine Freedom walk on 29 September.
The Palestine Film Festival in Durban aims
to create an avenue for showcasing films about Palestine and to promote films
by Palestinian directors to bring honest and independent views of Palestine and
its diaspora’s society, culture, and political travails through the art of film.
A major goal of the Festival is to directly expose our local community to the perspective
of artists as a first step toward circumventing the many government and media filters
that pollute our understanding of Palestine and the wider region. Films by
Palestinian directors and other filmmakers who have made films about Palestine
- both documentary and feature films - will be screened alongside the
exhibition and venues across Durban including the Kwa Zulu Natal Society for
the Arts KZNSA, Alliance Francaise and Ekhaya Centre in Kwa Mashu.
The exhibition launch event to kick off the
festival will take place on September 26 at the Durban Art Gallery, hosted by
the Mayor James Nxumalo and will be inaugurated by Deputy Minister Ebrahim
Ebrahim, Ambassador of Palestine in South Africa HE Abel Hafez Nofal and South
African icon Ahmed Kathrada.
The festival will conclude on October 20 at
the Durban Art Gallery . More information on email: palfestsa2013@gmail.com
TWITTER HANDLE: @PalFestSA2013
FACEBOOK PAGE:
https://www.facebook.com/PalestineFestivalSA2013
BLOG: PalfestSA2013.weebly.com
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