Lecture and Tour
Speaker: Ismat Al-Asad

Thursday, June 6th | 12:00-13:30
Location: The Palestinian Museum
Language: Arabic

The Faculty of Arts at An-Najah National University, the first college in Palestine to grant a Bachelor’s degree in arts and music, is responsible for training a generation of Gazan artists. Among them are Ruqayya Al-Lulu, Hani Zurob, Motaz Naim, Ayman Essa, Maisara Baroud, and Taysir Batniji. The Faculty of Fine Arts was established within the College of Arts in 1981, and in 1985 the first study plan to grant a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts was approved, and consequently, the first cohort. The College of Fine Arts was established as an independent college in 1992, and it contributed to creating a rich artistic and cultural environment that connected art students from all over Palestine.

In this lecture to be attended by students from the An-Najah National University Faculty of Fine Arts majors, Professor Ismat Al-Asad will educate us on the history of arts education at the university with a focus on its most influential teachers and graduates as well as its art exhibitions and pivotal historical events. The lecture will be followed by a tour of the Museum’s exhibitions comprising its artistic demonstration for Gaza.
 

About the artist Ismat Al-Asad

Al-Asad was born in Nablus in 1965. He graduated in 2001 from An-Najah National University, where he now teaches, with a BA in Fine Arts.

Al-Asad participated in many exhibitions, including the Fine Artists Exhibition “Artists from Nablus - Group Exhibition” (1986); the March Exhibition hosted in Dar Al-Karamah - Ramallah (1999); the opening exhibition of Al-Hallaj Arts Hall by the Plastic Artists Association (2003); the Rafah Artworks Bazaar (2005); the Freedom and Life Promise (travelling exhibition) in the French town of La Flèche (2006); and Colors of Hope, the UNDP annual auction exhibition held in Jerusalem (2004).

He is a member of the Plastic Arts Association and the Palestinian Writers Union and is a founding member of the Balata Cultural Forum. The artist has also published a collection of short stories.

^{*Ruqayya Al-Lulu. Oil on canvas, 128 x 168 cm. Courtesy of An-Najah National University Collection}