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UP opens Palestinian Heritage Month festivities

| Posted by UP System Media and Communication Office

UP President Angelo Jimenez (foreground) and a contingent from the UP College of Fine Arts led by Dean Abdulmari “Toym” Imao Jr. and Fine Arts Gallery curator Lisa Ito-Tapang (leftmost and rightmost, respectively) welcome Palestinian Ambassador to the Philippines Mounir Anastas (in hat) and Deputy Ambassador and First Secretary Ziad Bedaiwi (second from right) as they attend the kick-off ceremony of the Palestinian Heritage Month celebration in UP Diliman. Also in the photo is Poeleen Alvarez (second from left), master of ceremonies. Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.

The University of the Philippines and the Embassy of the State of Palestine in Manila opened the series of activities celebrating Palestinian Heritage Month, themed Living Heritage, Enduring Steadfastness. 

 

The UP College of Fine Arts hosted the kick-off ceremony, Oct. 5, with a visual heritage and art exhibition at the UP Fine Arts Gallery, UP Diliman, featuring photographs, embroidery, and artifacts. 

 

Palestinian Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary Mounir Anastas, Deputy Ambassador and First Secretary Ziad Bedaiwi, UP President Angelo Jimenez, Office of Institutional Linkages Officer in Charge Gino Angelo Velasco, CFA Dean Abdulmari “Toym” Imao Jr., and Fine Arts Gallery Curator Lisa Ito-Tapang opened the exhibit. Anastas led a guided tour.

UP President Angelo Jimenez caps his welcome remarks to the Palestinian visual heritage and art exhibition at UP Diliman with a poem from Palestinian poet Marwan Makhoul: “In order for me to write poetry that isn’t political I must listen to the birds and in order to hear the birds, the warplanes must be silent.’” Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.
Palestinian Ambassador to the Philippines Mounir Anastas explains an aspect of the visual heritage and art exhibition at UP Diliman, “Each piece of embroidery, each artifact, each photograph speaks of a homeland that occupation cannot erase.” Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.
UP College of Fine Arts Dean Abdulmari “Toym” Imao Jr., explaining one of the themes behind UP’s artistic initiatives, says that through art, “we want to send a message on how connected our faiths are, how connected our lands are.” He also thanked the Embassy of the State of Palestine in Manila “for working with us to become the home of this exhibition.” Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.
Palestinian Ambassador to the Philippines Mounir Anastas (in hat) engages the audience with updates and personal anecdotes about the photographs, embroidery, and artifacts on display in the visual heritage and art exhibition. Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.

According to Jimenez, the monthlong event “invites us to see Palestinian heritage not simply as something preserved from the past but something living, an expression of identity, memory, creativity, and human dignity that continues to be carried across generations.”

 

“Our campuses must be spaces where cultures and histories can be studied with rigor, encountered with openness, and discussed with empathy,” he emphasized.

UP President Angelo Jimenez (in ethnic-style shirt) addresses the students, who, along with him have just attentively walked the entire guided tour provided by Palestinian Ambassador to the Philippines Mounir Anastas (in hat). Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.

Anastas underscored the resilience of human lives keeping heritage alive. “When you experience Palestinian culture, you are not making nostalgia; you are bearing witness to resilience.”

 

Later in the month, UP Diliman units such as the College of Music, College of Home Economics, and the Asian Center will offer musical performances, interactive culinary demonstrations in partnership with local Palestinian chefs, and an academic lecture.

One item on display at the Palestinian visual heritage and art exhibition at the UP Fine Arts Gallery is an embroidery of the “Tree of Life,” with a rare depiction of living things, including a lion and gazelles. Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.