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Contents

Introduction 02 A word from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees

03 At a Crossroads: Omar Al-Qattan 04 Important Benchmarks: Ziad Khalaf Financial Report 05 Revenues and Expenditures

Qattan Centre for 06 Vision, Approach and Action: Wasim KurdiEducational Researchand Development 08 Arts and Education 09 Languages and Social Sciences 10 Science and Technology 10 Professional Development 10 Research in Practice 11 Regular Programmes 11 New Initiatives Qattan Centre for 13 With Determination and Hope We Shall Overcome the Blockade the Child, Gaza 14 Testimonies Culture and Arts 16 A word from Mahmoud Abu Hashhash Programme 18 Performing Arts 19 Visual Arts 20 Literature 20 Audio-Visual Unit 21 Publications 21 Guest House 21 Gaza Music School

The Mosaic Rooms 22 Annual Report 2009 - 2010 Board of Trustees 26 Auditor’s Report 27

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At a Crossroads

Today, over 16 years after it was founded in Britain and 11 since it started work in Palestine, the Foundation finds itself at a crossroads, faced with many challenges. Up to now, it has undergone steady growth, its workforce has increased and become more experienced and it now has a well established name linked to high quality service in the fields of cultural and educational development and extra-curricular activities for children, not only in Palestine but also internationally. It has of course had its share of mistakes, problems and criticisms, some of its own making and others caused by the political, social and cultural problems of the country. Nevertheless, it can be said without hesitation that the Foundation has almost achieved one of its fundamental objectives, namely to become a civil institution in all senses of the word: that is, to enjoy complete independence, transparency and a democratic ethic, and to have a close but judicious relationship with the community to whose interests and concerns it is organically - but critically – committed.

I say this goal is almost achieved because the Foundation is still essentially connected to the family and person of its founder, Abdel Mohsin al-Qattan. There were clear historical and cultural reasons behind such a connection when the Foundation was first established, due for the most part to the absence of a national and independent legal entity in occupied Palestine, the dearth of comparable local civic institutions, as well as the lack of political stability.

However, maintaining the link between the person and family of the founder and the institution also enabled us to demonstrate to ourselves and to the world at large that Palestinians, either individually or as a group, could establish first-class, high-end and financially independent institutions on their own. We hoped that such an institution might serve as a template for others and encourage them to set up similar autonomous and enterprising initiatives, which would help undermine the dependency culture that, sadly, has been dominant among a large sector of our society, especially since the Oslo Accords.

Now the time has come for the Foundation to change from being a family-run institution to one in which the community plays a more active role, though the family will continue to fulfil its financial and legal responsibilities. This will result in a number of key measures, the most important of which is an expansion of the membership of the Board of Trustees to include qualified and specialised individuals who will support and enrich the Foundation’s programmes and strategies through their expertise and professionalism, and help cement its relationship with both the local and the wider Arab and international communities. Perhaps extracting the Foundation from the domain of the family and its limitations reflects a similar desire among people in the region, particularly the young, to strengthen the spirit of democratic and collective action in our culture, enabling it to move away from the current system of family and clan dependency. In so doing, we believe that the Foundation would be taking yet another difficult but pioneering step.

These changes in our governance will require considerable time and effort but we are confident that they will take the Foundation to a new stage of success and help it to work more efficiently and professionally. They mark the culmination of two years of an ongoing strategic planning process, which has resulted in new policies and a new administrative structure. We hope this will create a solid platform from which to achieve our ambitious goals in the near future.

Omar Al-QattanTrustee

A word from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees

Since the Qattan Centre for the Child in Gaza opened five years ago, I have been impatiently waiting for a chance to visit it so that I could personally meet the people who work there and see for myself the children who come there with their fun, inquisitiveness and energy; to get to know at long last the researchers, teachers and students at the Qattan Centre for Educational Research and Development in Gaza and the Gaza Music School. At the beginning of May 2010, I was finally, almost miraculously, given the opportunity, when permission came through for me to cross into Gaza via Rafah and spend several short days there.

I am unable to put into words the joy, pride and pleasure I feel at what our colleagues at the Foundation in Gaza have achieved, despite the terrible and shameful conditions they are working in. During my trip, each warm, welcoming and brave face I saw was a constant reminder that we should not be pessimistic – that, in fact, we have no right to lose hope – while our children, educators and artists have so much talent and ability, as was so clearly demonstrated to me.

I first visited Gaza in the 1930s. I had broken my arm and my father took me from Jaffa, where we then lived, to a famous Arab bone-setter from the Al-Khayyal clan, who lived in Khan Younis. Gaza was a beautiful and innocent place then, and no one could envisage the tragedy that would later engulf it.

Today, aged over 80, I have visited Gaza once again. It is a place of unimaginable suffering and anguish (some of which, I am sad to say, is self-inflicted). But it also contains people who can only be described as highly distinguished, and extraordinarily courageous.

All of this makes me continue to hope and dream that when I visit it again in the near future, I will find its people free and full of hope, with heads held high.

Abdel Mohsin Al-Qattan

Abdel Mohsin Al-Qattan with children during his visit to the Qattan Centre for the Child in Gaza

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Revenues for the year ending 31 March 2010

Al-Qattan Charitable Trust The Mosaic Rooms - External Other Income Total London Funding

£ 1,360,961 £ 77, 875 £ 380,572 £ 19,587 £ 1,838,995

Financial Report

The Foundation’s total revenues for the year ending 31 March 2010 amounted to £1,838,995. Of this, £1,360,961 was underwritten by the Al-Qattan Charitable Trust. Total external contributions for jointly funded projects amounted to £380,572. The Mosaic Rooms’ income amounted to £77,875, and a further £19,587 came from other sources.

The Foundation’s total expenditures amounted to £2,122,981 of which £195,555 were expended on fixed assets and £1,927,426 on programmes and administrative expenses.

Net AssetsThe balance of net assets at the end of the current year came to £3,590,987, of which £3,428,214 were restricted net assets, and £162,773 unrestricted.

The Foundation’s accounts have been audited by “PricewaterhouseCoopers” in Palestine and by “Kingston Smith” in the United Kingdom.

Bashar IdkaidekDirector of Finance

External Funding 21%

Al-Qattan Charitable Trust 74%

Other Income 1%

The Mosaic Rooms 4%

Pogrammes’ Expenses for the year ending 31 March 2010

Administration Qattan Centre for Educational Qattan Centre for the Culture and Arts Other Total Research and Development Child Programme

£ 275,237 £ 512,328 £ 655,940 £ 469,590 £ 14,331 £ 1,927,426

24% Culture and ArtsProgramme 1% Other

14 % Administration

27% Qattan Centre for Educational Research and Development

34% Qattan Centre for the Child

Important Benchmarks

It is with great pleasure that I present the annual report of the A.M. Qattan Foundation for the period April 2009 to March 2010. Highlighted are the programmes’ achievements, progress in implementation of the five-year strategic plan (2009-2013) and the marked increase in the mobilisation of external co-funding for the Foundation’s activities.

A range of important benchmarks underpin the Foundation’s cumulative progress over the last year. Most notable was the increased scope and impact of activities adopting a pro-active intervention approach, such as the Drama in Education Programme, which targeted teachers from Palestine and several Arab countries, the Performing Arts Summer School, through which the skills of a group of the most promising young artists were developed, and the Family Literacy Programme, which was implemented by the Qattan Centre for the Child in 25 kindergartens across the Gaza Strip, along with the Gaza Music School and the Mosaic Rooms in London. In addition, external co-funding constituted 22% of the Foundation’s actual expenditure during last year, up from 10% in the previous year, reflecting the increased confidence in the Foundation by Arab and international funders.

This was coupled with vigorous work on developing the Foundation’s organisational structure and a comprehensive review and development of policies and procedures as the first step in implementing the five-year strategic plan. We started with this based on a deep conviction that no organisation can achieve its goals, enhance its contribution and widen its work domain without a clear vision and an institutional system that promotes harmony, transparency and a dynamic work environment.

In collaboration with local expertise, a participatory consultation process was launched to inform the review, involving programme and management staff as well as members of the Board of Trustees. This resulted in the development and adoption of a new organisational structure and salary scale consistent with the newly adopted programmatic tracks. Drawing on this, a recruitment plan was developed and appointment of new staff commenced to complement existing expertise in order to best meet current and envisaged challenges and to achieve the desired future expansion.

Interestingly, the process required more time than first anticipated; in addition to attending to the fine details and the many questions raised, the process was undertaken in parallel with ongoing implementation of ambitious annual work plans, with all the requisite effort, time and proficiency this required. However, we are confident that by answering the many small questions posed by this process, together we will be better able to answer the larger questions.

Ziad KhalafExecutive Director

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Vision, Approach and Action

Based on its cumulative experience, and a vision formulated over the years by ongoing discussion within the Foundation, the Centre has chosen to focus on three tracks: the arts and education, languages and the social sciences, and science and technology. This approach will lead to a new beginning, shaped by experience and built upon past achievements and current resources - one that will, we hope, take our work forward to a new level of relevance and effectiveness.

The three tracks come together within an integrated and collaborative framework which is implemented in socio-educational work with teachers; work that is based on interaction, research, experimentation and expression: interaction between the Centre’s researchers and participating teachers, between the teachers themselves, and between them, their students and the community, using a variety of resources and pioneering “experiments”. This interactive engagement provides opportunities for research into educational practice, exploring its meanings and connotations, and subjecting it to discussion and analysis.

The questions that the research poses, the meanings that it yields, help us understand our educational practices, and the knowledge and ideas emerging from the interactions associated with the research lead to new teaching initiatives. These initiatives are based on practical experience and are adventurous and original, since experience redefines the meaning of teaching and learning and gives our daily work new dimensions of understanding, yielding specific reactions, reflections and questions that all need to be expressed and narrated. These in turn lead to opportunities to discuss and narrate our various

experiences; to be inspired by our colleagues’ discoveries and to start new experiments based on the lessons we have learnt from each other. This process involves both the teachers who have already engaged in the Centre’s research, or new teachers who join its professional development track, which our researchers are working to establish.

Such initiatives are fed by the knowledge and experience of the teacher as a social agent both in school and in the wider community, and on a vision that considers education as a holistic process with interconnected themes spanning science, philosophy and the arts. The educational process – in order to grow and evolve – should be subject to critical reflection and research: it should also constantly be narrated for the benefit of others.

Education should concern the person as a whole, his or her senses and emotions and ability to think, imagine and express him/ herself. It should also concern itself with teachers’ means, tools and methods, though in a way that opens a path to freedom rather than imposes alien techniques. Educational thinking should also be based on an organic relationship between man and his many facets and abilities and the technology he produces.

The Qattan Centre for Educational Research and Development

“We were introduced to a completely new experience which made us think deeply and analyse the situation rather than forming a quick judgment based only on appearances.”Shuruq Belbisi, student (Jerusalem) – on taking part in an activity at the Centre.

This is our objective at QCERD; we regard education as part of a wider social whole, which is neither distinct from other areas of life, nor an adjunct to them. Rather it should be the expression of an experience that may be revolutionary and open up a path, today and in the future, that prepares the way for freedom and emancipation. This is the purpose of education, just as it should be the purpose of the educator and the citizen.

This holistic aspect of our work has become much clearer over the past twelve months; many new teachers have become engaged in QCERD’s programmes and projects in a variety of ways. Some engage first through reading publications such as Ru’a Tarbawiyya, of which issues 29, 30 and 31 appeared this year, and then writing and speaking about them. Issue 31 concentrated on the Third Educational Conference: Applied Experience in the Practice and Content of Education, which was devoted to the experiences of teachers in Palestine. The conference focused on the various ways these experiences had contributed to teachers’ professional development in the arts and education, particularly the use of drama; language and the social sciences, specifically the fields of linguistic expression and history; and science and technology, with a special intervention in science teaching and the use of modern technology. These experiences were all based on interaction

and experimentation, research and rigorous reporting of findings. Researchers from the Centre followed every stage and provided guidance with planning, implementation, documentation, writing up findings and publishing them. One project included six teachers who deepened their engagement with the Centre by working on the Realities of Education in Palestine report and conducting the necessary field research in six schools. Having accumulated experience, some of them have started to pass on their learning to other teachers, and now form part of the Teachers working with Teachers programme, one of the Centre’s professional development tracks.

This level of engagement places the educational process with all its dimensions at the heart of our teachers’ professional development programme, focussing on the practical expertise derived both from teachers’ own work experiences in the classroom and their engagement in the activities of the Centre.

Wasim KurdiDirector, Qattan Centre for Educational Research and Development

“It was amazing, I cannot put it into words. I only wish I could go through the experience again for it opened many, many doors in my mind and made me think more deeply and in a completely different way. I won’t ever forget it.”Raneen Abu Ahmed, student from Nazareth, a participant at an activity at the Centre.

Covers of the QCERD publication “Ru’a Tarbawiyya” issues 29, 30 and 31

Teachers during the Drama in Education School

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Regular Programmes Take Shape a. Arts and Education

1. Drama in an educational context

Summer school: For the third year running, the Centre organised the 2010 summer school on drama in education in Jerash, Jordan, which was attended

Drama in Early Childhood In collaboration with the Arab Theatre Training Centre, we held a founding workshop for kindergarten teachers, entitled ‘Using Drama in Early Childhood’.

2. Animation Programme

As part of its activities, the documentation and translation unit at the Centre organised four workshops on animation for teachers and students at Silwad Girls School, the Silwad Summer Club, an inaugural workshop at Jiljlya Mixed Elementary School and workshops at three schools in Nazareth: Massar School, the Holy Family School for Special Education and Al-Jalil Secondary School. The unit is now engaged in drafting a plan for an animation project and two production units, one at the Centre and the other at Silwad Girls School.

b. Languages and Social Sciences

The study and teaching of history:The Centre has started organising meetings with history teachers in order to draw up proposals for a project on the teaching of history in the curriculum.

The use of family photographic albums as a resource for studying history: The Forum explored the use of family albums in developing a historical narrative and examined ways of using them in the classroom.

Approaches to teaching English in a socio-artistic context. This research is based on ways of using games, songs and art to teach English to elementary level students.

1. Teachers engaged in the teacher capacity building programme

2. Teachers engaged in the research support programme receive training on methodology and semiotics

3, 4. Teachers during pilot practices in modern education within the Drama in Education School

5. Clay models made by students at the Juljlia Basic School within the “learning through animation programme”

1. Students at the Juljlia Basic School within the “learning through animation programme”

2. Teachers during the Drama in Education School3. Teachers, students and parents watch Keys, a

documentary film, in the Ni’lin Teacher Centre

“To see these young teachers working with such true and heartfelt passion is beautiful and fills me with hope and vitality. I wish all who show such spirit well.”Dr. Munir Fasheh

“The suggestions and criticisms I received forced me to challenge and think about launching into a new experience.”Kanana al Dajani, teacher

by 67 teachers, representing all three academic years. Of the participants, 53 were from Palestine and 14 from Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Syria. The Programme also translated three books on drama in education and trained 15 teachers to produce and design digital resources.

Drama Teachers’ Forum: The forum held regular meetings throughout the year, of which three included workshops, presentations by teachers and theatrical productions.

Theatre in Education In conjunction with the Ford Foundation and the British Council, the Centre hosted the Big Brum theatre group from Birmingham, England in an experiment, believed to be the first of its kind in the field of Theatre in Education (TIE) in Palestine. The programme included a workshop on the importance of story and imagination. Students from schools in Ramallah, Nablus, Jerusalem and Nazareth presented A Window, a play by English playwright Edward Bond.

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c. Science and Technology

Early childhood and scientific culture: A draft paper on professional development for early years teachers was elaborated, entitled A Multidisciplinary Approach to Scientific Literacy: A Professional Development Programme for Early Childhood and Basic Level Teachers, with the objective of improving the quality of education in early years and primary stages in schools by exposing participants to various experiments centred on scientific culture, integrated with different subjects and fields.

Use of Technology/Interactive Simulations in Education: This project aims to enrich the learning environment with interactive simulation, animation and educational videos related to science education, and their use during work with students.

Professional Development

Third Educational Conference: The Third Educational Conference, held on the 18th and 19th December 2009, was based on teachers’ experiences, projects and stories, and aimed to provide a view of education from their perspective. The conference afforded an opportunity for reviewing current practice, cultivating potential and raising practical problems in teaching and learning. It included 19 presentations by 20 teachers and seven educators, in addition to two commentaries and reflection papers presented by QCERD researchers. In addition, clips from selected international films on specific educational themes were screened. The conference marked the start of a major and truly pioneering shift in our work and, we believe, a contribution to the quality of education in Palestine.

Annual multi-disciplinary course: Professional development and cultural studies education is a project based on the organisation of an interactive training course for teacher professional development in which three groups of teachers are participating.

A reflective-applied project: Following the Third Educational Conference, a programme was announced to stimulate teachers in their professional development by devising their own projects that focus on the following areas: story-telling, project research and the training of other teachers.

Research in practice

Programme for mentoring research: This is a regular programme for teachers engaged in postgraduate studies at Palestinian universities.

Applied educational researchThe Realities of Palestinian Schools report – in development.Professional development and constructing an integrated curriculum for early childhood.Global energy challenges.

Regular Programmes

The Library: The library has developed its own specific identity and now operates as a permanent educational and humanities resource, offering its users multi-purpose facilities, which include books, periodicals, photocopying and online film screenings. It has become a place where researchers and teachers meet to write up research, develop teaching projects and experiences, and hold discussions. The library attracts teachers and graduate students especially from the fields of education and the humanities, and has two locations: one in Ramallah and the other in Gaza City.

Academic grant for teachers: This year, Farid Saada from Hebron was awarded a grant to study for a Master’s Degree in Assisted Computer Language Learning at Essex University (UK), with support from the Hani Qaddoumi Scholarship Fund. Teacher forums: Teacher forums come about through teacher-led initiatives and now operate in the following areas: Doura, Ya’abad, Ithna, Jericho, Jenin, al-Dhahiriya, Halhoul, Tulkarim, Nazareth and Gaza City. The

Centre lends its support through providing expertise, resources and some funding while the forums organize regular activities for teachers and the local community. Events and activities: The Centre in Gaza organised a series of summer courses for teachers, head teachers and supervisors on Arabic, English, mathematics, science and social studies.

Publications: 1. Qariat al-Madia, al-Mashad wa Mudhakirat al-Makan (Al-Madia Village, Scene and Memories of Place) (Anthropology) 2. Awkat Jamila Li’akhta’ina al-Nadira (Fine Times for our Flourishing Mistakes), an account of his school days by short story writer, Ziad Khaddash and 3. Issues 29, 30 and 31 of Ru’a Tarbawiyya quarterly.

Partnerships: The Welfare Association, the Hani Qaddoumi Scholarship Foundation, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, the Arab Theatre Training Centre, Big Brum, the Arab Education Forum, Unicef, the British Council, the Ford Foundation, The Mantle of the Expert website, the Institute of Childhood Programmes, local teacher forums, the Palestinian Telecom Group Foundation for Community Development and the Centre of Continuing Education at Bir Zeit University.

New Initiatives

Teachers’ Resource Centre - Ni’lin

Idea and establishmentThe idea behind setting up a teachers’ resource centre in Ni’lin village, Ramallah district, came about as a result of an initiative by QCERD, as part of its programme to establish a network of such centres in towns and villages across the country in order to broaden cultural and educational dialogue and enable as large a group of teachers as possible to have access to our programmes and resources.

“As I observed the teachers who were taking part in the exercise, I discovered they all had one thing in common and that was to discover meaning and make it more profound, as the point of the exercise was to produce meaning in the classroom by involving the students in their environment.”Mohammed Abu Zaid, Deputy at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in Palestine.

“The teaching which is taking place [as a result of QCERD’s work] deepens the meaning of life and strengthens our connection with this place, helping us to repossess it although it is surrounded by barbed wire, barriers and high walls. The experience makes us reclaim our history so that we become responsible for the place, its past and our own education.”Nabila Espagnoli, educator, Nazareth

Cover of a publication translated and published by the Centre

One of the Centre’s publications

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The Ni’lin Centre, set up at the beginning of 2010, should serve as a model for local partnerships. It operates out of al-Khawaja Palace, a building that had been restored by the Riwaq Institute for Architecture as part of its heritage conservation programme, and which is now run by the Ni’lin Society for Growth and Development of Community Action. QCERD signed a memorandum of understanding with the Society to enable the teachers to use the Palace, and also signed a co-funding agreement with the Palestinian Telecom Group Foundation for Community Development. QCERD supervises the work of the teachers and oversees the administration, funding, planning, coordination, implementation, follow-up and assessment of the Centre. Two teachers from the district are running the Centre and both have previously been involved in the professional development programmes at QCERD.

Upon opening, the Ni’lin Centre immediately set up a series of draft proposals outlining the nature of the work they aimed to undertake, and an action plan for the following year, taking into consideration ideas that had been discussed through QCERD. It was also decided to hold meetings with groups of teachers from Ni’lin and the surrounding areas, at which participants discussed the importance of meeting the needs of local teachers, the role of the Centre in teachers’ professional capacity specifically and in the educational process in general.

The Centre then started working on several professional development programmes with teachers. In addition, it set up a cinema club in order to run monthly screenings for teachers, students and families. The first screening was of Federico Fellini’s La Strada.

Finally, we hope that the success of this experiment would set a precedent for future work on other centres that respond to similar community, teacher and institution initiatives.

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Qattan Centre for the Child, Gaza

1. A child learns to play music at the Gaza Music School

2. Abdel Mohsin Al-Qattan during his visit to the Qattan Centre for the Child in Gaza

With Determination and Hope We Shall Overcome the Blockade

As we enter our sixth year, the number of children registered at the Qattan Centre for the Child in Gaza has passed the 20,000 mark – children of all age groups from all parts of the Gaza Strip. The Centre provides an oasis for them to quench their thirst for knowledge, culture and the arts, and nurtures their creativity and talent, holding out the hope of a better future for their generation. Perhaps with determination and persistence, it will overcome the pain and anguish caused by the many years of Israeli aggression and blockade and the difficulties of the internal Palestinian situation.

In the year under review, the Centre continued to work with children, families, and childcare professionals, while focusing on two main areas: first, professional empowerment and capacity building and, secondly, establishing strategic and external co-funding partnerships.

In order to enhance the children’s capacity for learning and discovery, the Centre worked through specialist clubs, using a long-term intervention approach to meet their various cultural, information-related and artistic needs. The clubs covered the following areas: reading, drama and theatre, dabkeh and folklore, choir, painting, writing for the internet (the Electronic Writer’s Club), web page design and

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1. Professor David Davis at the Drama in Education School

2. Group photo of Foundation staff in Ramallah

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1. Group photo of the Foundation’s staff in Gaza including the Qattan Centre for the Child, Gaza Music School, and the QCERD

2. Islam Hassouneh gives training in web design to other children at the Qattan Centre for the Child

3. A father tells a story to his daughters at the Qattan Library for the Child

4. A map of Gaza City showing membership by area of residence and gender

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Islam trains fellow students

Islam Hassouna (17 years old), a member of the Centre’s web design club, has designed three internet sites on her own and become proficient at using Flash. During the summer holidays, she has been keen to help the tutors, training other children in using computers. Islam has also developed several electronic training resources, which she has converted from PowerPoint to Flash, which makes them more accessible to the children. “The Centre is like a second home,” says Islam. “I could not do without it.”

A room for bombs becomes a room for books

Hikmat al-Wadia, (35) mother and kindergarten director, says: “Part of my house was damaged during the last war on Gaza in 2008 and the children’s room was completely destroyed. Afterwards, the children were too frightened to go into it and called it the bomb room. After becoming involved in QCC’s Family Literacy Programme organised by the Qattan Centre for the Child, I decorated it and transformed it into a reading room. Now the children love spending time there and call it the reading room.”

computer programming. As part of its work with parents, the Centre set up a series of new clubs under the aegis of the Family Literacy Programme, which the Centre implemented for the third year running. We also organised a number of workshops, training courses and joint activities for children and families and also involved them in the process of designing and carrying out several activities and events. ‘The role of school libraries in nurturing gifted children’ and ‘Animation techniques in children’s libraries’ were key themes in the Centre’s work with library professionals, supplemented by a number of courses on library management, communication, digital libraries, writing projects and marketing library services.

The Centre set up a number of collaborative partnerships with local and international organisations, which enabled it to attract external co-funding and thereby expand its range of programmes and activities and increase its direct interventions. It collaborated with Unicef to celebrate The International Day of the Child and the International Day for the Protection of Children, and signed a memo of understanding with the Ashtar Institute to run The Gaza Monologues project until the end of 2010. It also obtained a grant from the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development to support the Read…Draw…Play project, which focused on expanding cultural services for children, families and professionals at the Centre, as well as organising performances in outlying areas of the Gaza Strip. The Centre also received co-funding from Save the Children (UK) to support two projects, the first to strengthen and widen the reach of its Outreach Services Programme, which entailed collaborating with six local organisations and 53 schools to provide a mobile library service and long term books and materials loans as well as to implement various cultural activities with them. The second project aimed at developing a family literacy programme

in the Gaza Strip and involved working with 24 kindergartens, and providing training for their workers on family literacy, setting up family clubs in the kindergartens and running activities for children and their families.

With support from the French Cultural Centre, the Centre also organised a French-Palestinian week, which contained a number of film screenings, an art exhibition and an exhibition of French books. Working with the Gaza Community Mental Heath Programme, a group of German experts from the Rudolf Steiner Friends of the Art of Education organisation ran a series of activities and kinetic games at the Centre. In collaboration with the Drosos Foundation, Switzerland we prepared a draft proposal on ways of expanding our library services in the central and southern Gaza Strip. Work on this four-year project is expected to commence shortly.

Shams ‘creates’ a Children’s Centre

Fatimah Shaheen (Um Shams), mother of Shams (6 years old) and Samah (11 months), believes that the Family Literacy Programme and its activities have contributed greatly to her own and her children’s lives. She says: “Shams has created a corner at home which she calls the Qattan Centre for the Child; she’s made a library from her bits and pieces where she practises some of the things she’s done at the Centre and she’s brought home games, drawings and paper objects, which she’s always trying to reproduce. She also copies some of the games when she’s playing with her younger sister, Samah. The two of them know every part of the stories in their room. Samah, who is not yet 11 months old, has begun to say the names of animals. Shams has learned positive behaviour through taking part in activities at the Centre, such as organisation and tidiness.

Finally, the Centre continued to offer its dedicated public library service. The collection now holds 105,445 items and the number of external loans rose to 98,199 while internal loans rose to 172,077 with the total number of visits to the centre, whether to borrow books, read or take part in activities, reached 58,006.

Um Shams with her daughter Samah watching a performance at the Centre

The children at home in the reading room

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The visual arts, performing arts and literature, in all their different and varied aspects, are no longer the only three fields that come under the remit of the Culture and Arts Programme. Through The Production Support Project, cinema now represents a fourth field for which a separate Audio-Visual unit has been established. The new unit will build on the experience of the Palestinian Audio-Visual Project launched by the Foundation in 2004.

The Programme has also taken over responsibility for The Gaza Music School Project, which has slowly but surely taken root despite all the obstacles in its way, and started to establish itself as a significant and pioneering venture, which will have a strategic role to play in the building of a vital and creative musical life in the Gaza Strip, and, without doubt, have a far reaching impact on Palestinian life as a whole.

With the addition of the Mosaic Rooms in London, the Programme’s work took on a wider structural and geographical compass. The Mosaic Rooms provide an important and valuable artistic and cultural space for artists and creators to have the opportunity to show their work and come into contact with a diverse range of audiences and gain international exposure. At the end of 2009, the Programme launched another new project, the Internet site, ‘Narrating Gaza’, in the aftermath of the 2008 Israel attack on the Gaza Strip, which is still under development.

These major developments have not come about by chance, but are the result of much hard work and fruitful discussion over the last two years between members of the

1. Jawad Al Malhi digital print “Untitled” (New Works series)

2, 3. Stills from “Untitled” (New Works series) by Jawad Al Malhi

1. Artist Mohammad Abu Sall during his residency in Paris

2. A selected work from an exhibition by artist Eyad Sabbah

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Culture and Arts Programme

Foundation and its various Programmes and teams. There is no doubt that they will be increasingly reflected in the geographic scope of the Programme, its size and variety, as well as its organisational structure and administrative and technical team. Most importantly, however, it is hoped that they will result in a more integrated approach to the creative and cultural movement and the flourishing of art and literature in Palestine and elsewhere, which in turn will be enriched by the work of the Foundation’s other tracks and programmes.

Over the last year, the Programme has achieved much. In particular, it has seen an increase in the number of projects and activities it has supported or organised by itself or in new partnerships that have been formulated. The latter include the /si:n/ Festival of Video Art and Performance, the setting up of the Qattan-Delfina art residency in London, co-funding for programmes such as the Performing Arts Development Project and the Production Support Project and a grant from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) to support a number of performances and visual arts events around the country.

Mahmoud Abu HashhashDirector, Culture and Arts Programme

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Performing Arts

The Qattan-Ford Project for Developing The Performing Arts awarded nineteen production and distribution grants during the year 2009/10, and provided support for documentation, publishing, research, translation and specialised training. Among the beneficieries were the Kalinka Group (Gaza), Shiber Hur (Haifa), the musicians Sana Moussa (Galilee) and Wisam Murad (Jerusalem), researcher Serene Hleileh (Ramallah/Amman), First Ramallah Group (Ramallah) and Elias Hazineh (Bethlehem).

Study GrantsThe Programme awarded nineteen study grants for the academic year 2009/2010, enabling students from various branches of the performing arts, particularly theatre and music, to study at various specialised institutes in Palestine and abroad. Twelve went to students of music and seven to students specialising in artistic and technical aspects of the theatre.

Support for Performing Arts ActivitiesThe Programme organised and supported 70 different musical, theatrical and dance performances over the year, as well as several festivals in various parts of Palestine and elsewhere. These included a concert by Kamilya Jubran in Haifa, workshops and theatrical performances in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, the Baroque Music Festival, the Jerusalem Festival, the Palestine International Festival and a performance of Puccini’s opera La Bohème in Ramallah and Jerusalem.

Performing Arts Summer School (PASS)In partnership with the Royal Flemish Theatre (KVS) and Les Ballets C de la B, the Programme organised the fourth Performing Arts Summer School in Bir Zeit village during August under the supervision of the dramaturge Hildegard De Vuyst, dancer Rosalba Torres Guerrero and dance choreographer, Koen Augustjinen. The nine participants, drawn from various parts of Palestine, developed a work entitled ‘In the Park’ and gave two public performances. Three students from the school participated in an intensive month-long training course in Belgium.

Visual Arts

Young Artist of the Year 2010 (The Hassan Hourani Award) The Programme organised the initial stage of the 2010 Young Artist of the Year Competition, which is now in its sixth round. Sixty-two artists submitted their applications, from which a jury selected ten to proceed to the final stage, which is expected to take place in mid-October 2010.

The /si:n/ Festival of Video Art and Performance TIn partnership with Les Instants Video, Marseilles, the French Cultural Centre in Ramallah and Gaza, the Al Mahatta Gallery, the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre, the International Academy of Art in Ramallah, the Palestinian Art Court – al-Hoash, Jerusalem, and the Virtual Gallery at the University of Birzeit, the Programme initiated and organised the first international festival for video art and performance in Palestine. It ran from the 19th-24th May and tens of artists from Palestine and abroad participated.

Support for art exhibitions and workshops The Programme organised and supported 17 exhibitions and visual art events in various towns and cities including Nablus, Gaza, Ramallah, Jerusalem, London, Venice and New York, featuring various artists among them Rula Halawani (Jerusalem), Mohamad Fadel (Haifa), Omar Shalla and Mus’ab Abu Sal (Gaza) and Emily Jacir (New York/Ramallah). The Programme also organised two international workshops for artists, entitled “Al Mahatta 1” (Birzeit) and Kino Camp (Qalqilya).

Art Residencies In partnership with the Delfina Foundation, the Programme set up an art residency programme in London, the first beneficiary of which was the artist Jawad al Malhi (Jerusalem). It also supported three residencies at the Cité des Arts, Paris, in partnership with the Welfare Association, the General Consulate of France in Jerusalem and the Palestinian Ministry of Culture, which went

1. Children during training in the Palestine Circus School

2. Workshop on puppet theatre in one of the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon

3. Training for students at the Performing Arts Summer School

4. A workshop as part of the /si:n/ Festival

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1. The Palestine Youth Orchestra performing at the Beit Eddin Festival in Lebanon

2. A scene from the play “It’s All Talk” which tells stories about the expelled

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to Majd Abdel Hamid, (Ramallah), Ahmad Nassar (Ramallah) and Mohammed Musallam (Gaza). The artist Hani Amra (Jerusalem) took part in a UNIDEE residency, organised by the Pistoletto Foundation; the Programme also lent its support to other artists such as Mohammad Abu Sal (Gaza) to attend a workshop in France, and Shuruq Harb (Ramallah) to attend the opening of her exhibition at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham. Literature

Young Writer of the Year 2009 The Programme organised the 2009 competition, which focussed on novels and plays. The jury gave the award for best novel to Ala’ Abu Muhana (al-Buquay’a/ Galilee) for his novel Maqdissiyatun Ana (I am a Jerusalemite), but withheld the award in the play category, though Sanaa Shalan (Amman), Nahil Mohanna (Gaza) and Dia al Jubeh (Jerusalem) all received commendations. Literary Events The Programme supported various literary events over the year, most notably the book launch of Gabi Baramki’s Peaceful Resistance (Ramallah), the Aladdin Katiba cultural week (Gaza) and the Bethlehem University fourth conference on Palestinian Literature (Bethlehem).

Narrating Gaza The Foundation launched Narrating Gaza (www.narratinggaza.ps), a website which aims to provide an open platform for visual, written and audio-visual contributions about the aftermath of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip in winter 2008, and also serve as an attempt to write an alternative history of contemporary Palestine. Work is continuing on site development and on content.

Audio-visual Unit

The Foundation launched the Production Support Project, which will form part of the recently established Audio-Visual Unit. The Project, which is co-funded by the government of the Kingdom of Netherlands, will provide financial and technical support for short and medium length fiction films by Palestinian directors. The Unit has also taken over responsibility for running and developing the Arab Network of Cinema Clubs (Shabaka), the 47 cinema clubs in schools set up previously by the Palestinian Audio-visual Programme, and the database of professionals working in the film sector in Palestine, in addition to the film subtitling programme. A Call-for-Applications for the Production Support Project’s grants was announced in local newspapers, as well as through the Foundation’s email list and Internet. The announcement was followed by a meeting with a group of film professionals to present them with the project and hear their feedback regarding the implementation process the Foundation intended to pursue. In addition, a coordinator for the audio-visual unit was hired, and an independent jury was formed to evaluate applications. The first batch of short films is expected to go into production in Autumn 2010.

Publications

Akram Mussalam’s novel Diary of a Sweating Scorpion was published in French by Actes Sud. It had previously won the Qattan Young Writer Award in 2007, and was published by Dar al-Adab and the Foundation in Arabic in 2008. The Programme also helped fund a number of other publications including a short play Ith Qala Yousef (I am Yusuf and This is my Brother) by Nizar Amir Zuabi and produced by Shebr Hurr Group; the translation and publication of two plays by Victoria Brittain and Gillian Slovo by al-Farabi Publishing House (Beirut); The Young Artist of the Year 2008 catalogue, under the title Fragile Bodies; and a translation of Harold Pinter’s The Party by Ala’ Hlehel, published by the Arab Institute for Studies and Publishing in Amman. Guest House

During the period under review, the Programme accommodated 12 guests in the Foundation’s guesthouse, most of whom were artists from parts of the world who had come to Palestine to work on various arts-related projects. They included: Ernest Pignon Ernest (France), Mais Darwazah (Jordan), Alice Priori (Italy), Richard Minkin (Holland), Kostas Amoiropoulos (Greece) and Anne-Marie Filaire (France).

Gaza Music School

New premises were opened in April 2009 after the previous ones were completely destroyed during the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip at the end of 2008. The school thus welcomed a class of 25 new students for its first academic year, who have enrolled in a programme of regular lessons on five musical instruments: the oud, piano, violin, guitar and qanun.

In addition to their regular one-to-one lessons, students also received coaching through video-conferencing sessions organised with Ramallah and London. A number of musical events were also organised, some of which were aimed at a wider public and which included students from the school and their families. These were held at the Qattan Centre for the Child and at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society theatre. In addition, there were weekly musical events presented by students or by guest musicians at the school.

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1. Poster of “Kawamen” exhibition by artist Mosaab Abu Sall

2. CD cover of the “About a Town” album by Shadi Zaqtan

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1, 2. Children learn to play various instruments at the Gaza Music School

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Annual Report 2009-2010

For The Mosaic Rooms, 2009 was a trial year in which we tested the premises’ full potential, experiencing first-hand some of the major issues that running such a cultural space entails. A significant amount was achieved, thanks to the excellent efforts of all staff.

The Rooms’ remit is to provide artists and writers from the Arab World who would otherwise find it difficult to exhibit in London’s busy, commercialised and highly competitive market with the chance to do so to a public rarely exposed to such work. This is in line with one of the Foundation’s principal aims, which is to promote Palestinian and Arab culture internationally and to open the Arab region to world culture and knowledge.

The Rooms’ main - though not exclusive - focus is on younger artists from the region, providing opportunities for them to interact with colleagues from the UK and to collaborate on joint projects.

The Rooms also have residency facilities for use by guest artists just as the A.M. Qattan Foundation has a permanent art residency programme in the city of Ramallah in the Occupied West Bank, which is frequently used by international writers, directors and visual artists.

The Mosaic Rooms

During this reporting period, our main activities included the following major exhibitions:

• Hanaa Mal-Allah, Vivid Ruins, the distinguished Iraqi artist’s first solo show in the UK;

• Fragile Bodies, a selection of works by finalists of the Qattan Young Artist of the Year ; • Hassan Hourani Award 2008, including work by the winner Layan Shawabkeh and six other artists;

• Ordinary Lives, a series of dynamic and expressive photographic portraits by Rania Matar of women in Lebanon in the aftermath of the 2006 Israeli invasion; and

• Is this Your First Time in Gaza, an exhibition of work by Hazem Harb, including painting, photography and installation by this versatile and ambitious Rome-based artist from Gaza.

Literary and other cultural events hosted by the Rooms included the launch of the collection Invitation to a Secret Feast by Lebanese poet Joumana Haddad; the launch of Celebrate Darwish, a selection of poems by the late Palestinian

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1. Detail of “Ladies of Gaza” by Layan Shawabkeh2. Painting by Hana’ Malallah from the exhibition

“Vivid Ruins”

1, 2. Artworks exhibited at the Mosaic Rooms in London

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poet translated to English; a fundraising film screening for Cycle for Gaza; a number of the 2009 Earls Court Festival events including an evening with Tony Benn; a Crafts Fair for Gaza, an Arab Club film screening; a Syrian Arab Association film screening in the presence of actress Sulaf Fawakhirji; regular dance lessons for children with Funky Moves Dance Club and two afternoon screenings for local children as part of the Portobello Film Festival.

In the autumn, Zeina B. Ghandour’s launched her book A Discourse on Domination in Mandate Palestine: Imperialism, Property and Insurgency; Gaby Baramki introduced his memoir Peaceful Resistance: Building a Palestinian University Under Occupation; Ahdaf Soueif, Mariam and Najla Said discussed Wadad Maqdisi’s A World I Loved; and legal historian Victor Kattan discussed his latest book From Coexistence to Conquest. The Federation of Arabic Schools in the UK held a number of lectures and talks over a four day period in November; East West Publishing held its launch party in the Rooms in the presence of its founder Dr. Sahar Huneidi; and Lebanese writer Nabil Saleh discussed his work in front of a full house.

In late November, the Welfare Association held its semi-annual meetings in the Rooms over two days.

Our residencies programme was also active and hosted Syrian curator Abir Boukhari; Palestinian artists Jawad Malhi and Tina Sherwell as part of the preparation for Jawad’s summer show which Tina curated; artist Hazem Harb and opera singer Zeina Barhoum.

1. “Dance of Escape #1” by Hazem Harb2. Part of a series of photos from “Is This Your First

Time in Gaza” by Hazem Harb

1, 2. From the photographic Series “Ordinary Lives” by Rania Matar 3. The artist Hazem Harb4. “Untitled” by Majd abdel Hamid as part of the “Fragile Bodies”

exhibition

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Contact information

Palestine

PO Box 2276, RamallahTel: 00 970 2 296 0544Fax: 00 970 2 298 4886info@qattanfoundation.org

United Kingdom

Tower House, 226 Cromwell RoadLondon SW5 0SWTel: 00 44 207 370 9990 Fax: 00 44 207 370 1606

info@uk.qattanfoundation.orginfo@mosaicrooms.orghttp://www.qattanfoundation.org

A. M. Qattan Foundation is a British registered charity (no. 1029450) and is a charitable company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales No. 2171893. Registered address at 79 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7RB. Its registered No. in Palestine is QR-0035-F

Board of Trustees

Abdel Mohsin Al-Qattan - ChairmanLeila Al-QattanNajwa Al-QattanLeenah Al-QattanOmar Al-Qattan – Secretary

Management

Ziad Khalaf, Executive DirectorBashar Idkaidek, Director of FinanceReem Abu Jaber, Director, Qattan Centre for the Child, GazaMahmoud Abu Hashhash, Director, Culture and Arts ProgrammeWasim Kurdi, Director, Qattan Centre for Educational Research and DevelopmentNida Tawil, Director of Communications and Resource Development

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في ذكرى ليان �شوابكة، ١٩٨٦ - ٢٠٠٩

الفائزة بم�شابقة الفنان ال�شاب ٢٠٠٨ - جائزة ح�شن الحوراني

In Memoriam Layan Shawabkeh, 1986 - 2009Winner of the Young Artist of the Year Award 2008 - Hassan Hourani Prize