1998 Continued

The photography workshops brought children from different backgrounds and different parts of the City together. They also brought together groups of artists which contributed much to the evolution of Al-Ma’mal as a centre for art. There was no place in Palestine at that time where photography could be studied and where both young and more experienced photographers could learn and develop their skills. The youth clubs and community centres perceived photography as a practical, as well as a creative skill, and thus saw the workshops as potentially opening up job opportunities for the young people involved. Rula Halawani, Project Director from 1998-2000 recalls this period as follows:

The first workshops at Al-Ma’mal were very interesting. The kids enjoyed them. I enjoyed them and some of the work they produced was fantastic. I set up workshops and trained other photographers and later I taught adults which was another positive experience. I was also an artist-in-residence, and in 1998 Al-Ma'mal used a series of photos of working children, which I had taken in the early nineties, as one of their first artist projects.

The workshops were part of the Jerusalem Network Programme which was just one of Al-Ma’mal’s three programmed areas of activity. The Artist-in-Residence programme was organised throughout 1998 (in order to commence in 1999), while the Cultural Information Programme was very busy! In 1998 it established a network and database of cultural institutions in Palestine and links to various arts institutions and projects abroad. It also organised subscriptions to international art publications in order that students, artists and visitors could access knowledge and information about trends and issues in international contemporary art.  In addition to this, the Cultural Information Programme had two more major accomplishments in that first year. The production of a monthly arts and culture magazine Shu Fi? Or What’s Up? and last, but certainly not least, Al-Ma’mal became the first ever official Palestinian representative at an international biennale - the XXIV Sao Paulo Biennial in Brazil.