JERUSALEM, September 24, 2014 (WAFA) – “The recent Israeli assault on the Palestinian people in Gaza has brought horrific loss of life, suffering and destruction. In the face of this, the organizers and partners of Qalandiya International have decided to continue with the program of events for October/November 2014, in a spirit of collective creative resistance,” said Qalandiya International in a press release on Tuesday.

The second edition of Qalandiya International, a large contemporary art event, will be held in Palestinian towns and villages across the divide including Jerusalem, Haifa, Ramallah, Hebron and Gaza from 22 October to 15 November. This year’s event will feature works by over 100 Palestinian and International artists, collated in a series of newly commissioned art projects under the theme “Archives, Lived and Shared”.

Running alongside these exhibitions will be a series of different events, including public performances, installations, interventions, conceptual and video art, and talks from the artists, as well as seminars with local and international speakers. Field trips and walks will allow visitors to explore significant Palestinian architectural sites.

Qalandiya International is organized by nine Palestinian cultural and contemporary art institutions. Jack Persekian, director of the Palestinian Museum, is delighted to be taking part in such an important project. ‘We are very pleased to be involved with organizing the second edition of Qalandiya International, which is the product of the consolidated efforts and resources of several prominent cultural and contemporary arts institutions in Palestine.”

“We hope, through Qalandiya International, to put Palestine’s name firmly on the map of international cultural events, especially in the field of contemporary art. We are seeking to form new means of communication and cultural connection across Palestine’s fragmented geographical reality,” said Persekian.

This year’s event will highlight the role of archives in shaping Palestine’s past and present. Mahmoud Abu Hashhash, Director of the Culture and the Arts Programme at the A. M. Qattan Foundation, explains that Qalandiya International 2014 is designed to encourage new forms of interaction with archives in Palestine. ‘We are proposing an engagement with archives that is creative as well as critical; their role in preserving and shaping national identity, and the importance of public access to them, will serve as the theme and inspiration for this year’s events.”

“Along the way, we also hope to address some of the more problematic ways in which archives have previously been discussed and dealt with,” he added.

The first edition of Qalandiya International was launched in 2012 and was hugely successful: around 250 local and international artists took part, and over 150 journalists and art critics covered the various events and activities. In total, the original Qalandiya International attracted an audience of at least 6500 people.

M.N./T.R.