On Friday, March 6, 2020 the Skyline College Art Gallery in collaboration with Zawaya hosted an opening reception for “The Art of Palestine” as well as a concert by the renowned local group Aswat Ensemble with guest performers Samira Kharoubi and Nisreen Hajaj and Palestinian wind instruments musician Hasan Minawei.
The reception featured delicious tastes of middle eastern cuisine, informational booths hosted by local non-profits and an exhibit of artwork, graphic design, musical instruments, textiles, and other cultural artifacts documenting the history of Palestine and the shared cultural heritage of the Palestinian people.
A free concert followed the reception. Attendees clapped, sang and danced along with performers Aswat Ensemble and guests. Aswat is a highly regarded multi-ethnic and multi-racial music ensemble that reaches out to the diverse Bay Area community with folkloric, classical, and contemporary Arab music.
We thank Zawaya for their support of the exhibition and concert and as well as the patrons who generously loaned artwork and objects from private collections. Through this lens, the exhibit memorializes the past and provides a framework from which to imagine a future for Palestine.
Article by Paul Bridenbaugh | Photo by Najib Joe Hakim
