In the framework of its strategic decision to increase its intervention in the field of performing arts in Palestine, the Culture & Arts Programme has developed a partnership with the regional office of the Ford Foundation in Cairo, in which both foundations will provide new grants towards production, documentation and training in the field.

Preparations are under way for the launch of an experimental project in music teaching in Gaza in partnership between the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) through the Qattan Centre for the Child in Gaza. The project aims to establish a sustainable programme in teaching music in Gaza, with institutions of related interests, such as the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music.

The Culture and Arts Programme will soon publish the Young Artist of the Year Award 2006 Catalogue “Transformations”, which includes works of the ten finalists of the award in addition to a number of articles by Nicola Gray, Mahmoud Abu Hashhash, Omar Al Qattan, and Esmail Nashif.

QCERD will soon publish its second edition of the book Men in the Sun: In the Presence of the Text and its Absence by Wasim Kurdi.

In Palestine, you can buy our books from the QCERD's Ramallah library. Please contact our Librarian Azmi Shunnara on email ( azmi@qattanfoundation.org ) or by calling 02-2960544. In Gaza City, you can call Hanaa Shafi on 082838819 or email her on hanaa@qcerd.qattanfoundation.org .

You can also order books directly from the Internet on http://www.almoultaqa.com .

In the UK, our books are usually available at Al-Saqi Bookshop in West London, telephone: (020) 7229 8543.

The activities of the winter programme “Your Body…Secrets & Hidden Facts” carried on throughout the period, introducing children to the different body organs and their functions. This programme's activities coincided with the winter break, during which the Centre organized a number of art and computer courses and various activities, for thousands of children from various age groups and parents. The number of visitors to the Centre in the past two months reached 9366, where 26,111 books were read in the Centre and the number of loans was recorded at 20,010. The number of new or renewed memberships until end of February reached 9362 members.

25 children from various ages participated in the workshop around the use of “Bluetooth”.

The library organized a number of activities such as “Play & Discover”, supervised by Manar Al-Azayzah, where 26 participating children under the age of six were introduced to the human body. In the activity “Behaviors”, under the supervision of the trainer Raghda Al-Jbour, the participants were taught how to adopt healthy habits where 27 children between 1 st and 3 rd grades participated in this activity.

138 children under the age of six participated in the activity “Movement within Movement” under the supervision of the trainer Wisam Al-Sousi, which proposed exercises to activate the muscles. And in the course “My Body”, children were introduced to the different body parts and the functions of each organ. 314 children from 1 st to 9 th grades participated in this course.

The Centre hosted a classical music concert by the musician Elena Al-Lidawi which was organized by the French Cultural Centre. The artist Elena played a number of musical compositions on the piano, while a group of students from the Rosary School participated in performing some songs in English and French.

As part of our external lending programme, 5150 books were lent to 10 libraries of institutions that provide services for children in various areas of the Gaza Strip. Six book fairs were organized in six schools in various parts of the Gaza Strip. Approximately 6000 children benefited.

The Culture & Arts Programme announced the names of the winners of the first phase in the Young Artist Award of Year 2008. The independent jury designated by the Foundation chose 12 projects by 12 artists to participate in the second and final phase of the Award after reviewing and evaluating 62 applications by young artists from all over Palestine and the Occupied Golan Heights. The twelve finalists are: Wafa Yassin (Tamra/Galilee), Salameh Al-Safadi (Golan), Akram Halabi (Golan), Randa Maddah (Golan), Layan Shawabkeh (Ramallah), Shatha Al-Safadi (Golan), Jamil Daraghmeh (Jenin), Majd Abdel Hamid (Ramallah), Jad Salman (Tulkarem), Hazem Harb (Gaza), Diala Maddah (Golan), Hani Amra (Jerusalem).

A new project by Makan in Amman was announced for the establishment of the “Makan House: Arab Artists Residency & Exchange Programme” in cooperation between the Foundation, Zico House in Beirut, Townhouse Art Gallery in Cairo, Alexandria Contemporary Art Forum and with support from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture. The Programme offers the opportunity for Arab artists who work in contemporary art to travel and take up a residency in cities such as Amman, Beirut, Cairo, Ramallah or Alexandria.

The Programme cooperated in organizing the exhibition “Reflection” by Jawad Ibrahim throughout February at the Palestinian Art Court – Al-Hoash in Jerusalem, from the 7 th till the 21 st of February. It also supported the exhibition's move to the Peace Center in Bethlehem, where it remained on view till the 9 th of March. The same exhibition had opened at the Ramallah premises of the Foundation on the 6 th of November 2007.

he Programme supported the exhibition “A Memory of a Human” by the photographer Virginia Paradinas on the 26 th of January in the African Community Association in the Old City of Jerusalem. The opening was accompanied by the launch of the African community troupe of young artistic talents “Watar”.

The Magnificat Institute in Jerusalem organized its 9 th piano competition on the 13 th of December. The Qattan Award for this year was granted to the young pianist Nizar Al-Khater, who played a composition entitled “Peace Upon You from Me”, which was composed by Basel Zayed and arranged by H.A. Vosgueritchian, in addition to winning the award on his performance in the Italian city of Vicenza on the 3 rd of March. It should be mentioned that Nizar has received the Qattan Musical Grant for the past three consecutive years.

The Programme sponsored the participation of the writer Ala' Hleihel in the launch and signing of his new book “The Father, the Son, and the Lost Spirit”, and the organization of a critical lecture on the 1 st of February in Cairo, as part of the 40 th Cairo International Book Fair.

The film “Beware: Comment Ahead!” by Director Dalia Al-Kouri was screened in January in the centers participating in Shabaka - the Network of Arab Cineclubs in Palestine and Jordan. The film deals with sexual harassment. And as part of the screenings for the month of February, the film “Dreams of the City” by Syrian Director Mohammed Malas was shown. The film is set In Damascus during the turbulent post-war years.

The Centre in Gaza organized winter training courses for 187 teachers from various governmental, UNRWA and private schools. The courses treated the following topics: Analytical Thinking Skills in the Arabic Language Curriculum by Atiyyah Al-Omari, Effective Verbal Reasoning by Maha Barzaq, Mathematics and Social Adaptation by Rahmah Odeh, Conceptual Change Strategies in Science Curriculum presented by our colleague Hayel Al -Kurd, Methods of Inducing Contemplation Among Students by supervisor Ali Sheikh Ali, Creative Writing and Literary Appreciation presented by writer Khaled Jumaa.

Under the supervision of Wasim Kurdi, the Centre initiated in implementing a programme “The Story in an Interactive Framework…Narrating, Discovering and Expressing”, which focuses on the skills of narrating stories, discovering its characteristics, structures and morals through engaging a group of kindergarten and 1 st grade teachers from various schools. Two meetings around the programme were convened on the 19 th and 28 th of February in the Friends Girls School.

In cooperation with the two teachers' forums of Ya'bad and Jenin, the Centre had organized a study day on the 23 rd of February in the Jenin Girls High School to discuss the book “The Culture of Mathematics: Conceptual Mathematics” by researchers Liana Jabr and Wa'il Kishek. During this study day, 80 teachers participated from the Jenin district in three different sessions. The first session was made up of a series of parallel workshops, which introduced the theoretical foundations of the subjects tackled in the book, carried out by the two authors. The second session included two visual applications related to the book's contents; first by the teacher Niveen Hama and the second by teacher Mohammed Abu Baker. As for the third session, it was made up of five theoretical commentaries and individual impressions by the following teachers: Sa'ad Ateeq, Rashed Abu Issa, Imad Abdel Latif, Ibtihal Al-Orabi, Omar Abu al-Rob.

The second meeting for the founders and participants of the Forum on Employing Drama in the Educational Context was convened on 21/22 of February in the premises of the Red Crescent Society in Al-Bireh, with 24 participating teachers from various areas of the West Bank. During this meeting, the website of the forum was discussed and there was a presentation of the exceptional drama experiences of the teachers with their students, in addition to a brief preparation on the Second Drama Summer School, which will take place between the 4 th and 15 th of August in Ajloun, Jordan.

In the Centre in Gaza six discussion groups for teachers were convened in the fields of Arabic language, English Language, and Mathematics in order to reflect on applied lessons which had been documented on video.

Two educational meetings were convened in the premises of the Centre in Gaza for fifty supervisors and headmasters of schools. The topic of the first meeting was “Effective Learning from Life” and the second dealt with the topic of “School Violence and Authority in the Classroom”.

A group of students from Kufr Qasem High School for Girls visited the Centre in Gaza under the supervision of their teacher Iman Bal'ousheh. Dr. Mahmoud Abu Daff, Dean of the Education Department in the Islamic University also made a visit to the Centre, where possibilities of future cooperation with the Centre were discussed in addition to providing him with a presentation of the various work and activities of the Centre. Dr. Abed Al-Atheem Al-Musdar, Dean of the Education Department at Al Azhar University also visited the Centre as a means to discuss future cooperation.