The Programme organised Palestine's first international video art and performance festival, a collaborative effort involving more than seven local and two international institutions in Gaza, Jerusalem, Birzeit and Ramallah. Under the title /si:n/, it took place between 19 and 24 May and included video art pieces, performance pieces, video screenings, artist talks and a video art workshop with a number of young artists. Guests included international, Arab as well as local artists.
Other visual arts news included the hosting of renowned French artist Ernest Pignon Ernest at our Ramallah guest house from 19 to 28 June, for a project on the late poet Mahmoud Darwish, supported by the French Cultural Centre. In tandem with the first ever Palestinian pavilion at the Venice Biennale in which six artists were representing their country, the Foundation, along with five other local institutions, showed the same works in Palestine. The Foundation thus hosted a work by Emily Jacir. Further, the Programme also supported an exhibition of Palestinian artists at the Queen's Museum of Art, organised by ArteEast, which included work by artists Sharif Waked (Haifa), KhalilRabah (Ramallah) alongside other Arab artists from Iraq, Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Lebanon and Afghanistan.