Exhibition runs April 6 – April 27, 2007
For viewing info/hours call the Brecht Forum at 212-242-4201.
Three teenage participants from the Picture Balata workshop are in the Unitd States for the first two weeks of April 2007. Showing their work and speaking about their lives, the photographers will visit to New York City, Washington DC, Youngstown, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco.
These young people, leaving Palestine for the first time, will be able to educate U.S. residents regarding the reality of the situation in Balata Refugee Camp and occupied Palestine. The tour will also give them the chance to see that people outside Palestine support their work and the Palestinian struggle for liberation and justice.
The tour also aims to raise funds to purchase cameras, computers and internet access so that after further training the workshop participants, nine in total, will be able to do everything from taking the picture, editing it on their own computer and then publishing it on a website for the entire world to see. This self-sustainable project will give these young people the opportunity to further pursue photography and other media as a form of resistance.
Background:
Outside the West Bank City of Nablus lies the Balata Refugee Camp. Home to almost 25,000 residents living on less than one square kilometer, Balata is one of the most densely populated refugee camps within the West Bank. In recent years, Balata has seen hundreds of deaths and arrests, dozens of home demolitions, and the camp is subject to near-nightly invasions by the zionist military. It is here the Picture Balata workshop was started to teach youth from the camp about photography.
Picture Balata puts the camera into the hands of the children born and raised under conditions of occupation in Palestine. Participants ranging from ages 11 to 18 photograph their situation as they live it in Balata Refugee Camp.
Picture Balata in New York is sponsored by Al-Awda NY. For more information, contact us at info (at) al-awdany.org or by phone at 718-228-8636.
For more information on Picture Balata, please visithttp://www.picturebalata.net/.
