On the 13th of June 2017, Birzeit University Museum will open an exhibition titled “All the Power of Poetic Imagination”. The exhibition will be opened at 11:00 a. m. as part of the 5th edition of /si:n/ Festival of Video Art and Performance 2017. During the opening, “Instant Video” group from France will participate in the Festival with three different video works under the title “All of the Power of Poetic Imagination”. These works show the need for poetic imagination in a world governed by quick and widely available visual images that block the reality of the world, and make us susceptible to anesthesia. The films’ performances will be supervised by the curators Naïk M'Sili and Marc Mercier.
The 5th edition of /si:n/ Festival of Video Art and Performance, will be held over four days, from June 12th-15th, 2017. Events will take place in the central Palestinian cities of Jerusalem, Gaza, Bethlehem and Ramallah. A selection of video art installations, performances and film screenings by noted local and international artists will be exhibited in multiple venues and connected through organized tours of cityscapes in the four localities.
This year’s program encourages festival participants to experience artworks in an urban context and thereby also explore the city through video art and performance. Rich and diverse, the program engages the public in a variety of events:
This edition is brought together through the efforts and generous contributions of A. M. Qattan Foundation, Goethe-Institute Ramallah, Les Instants Vidéo Numériques et Poétiques, Palestinian Art Court -al Hoash, Dar al-Kalima University College of Arts and Culture, Eltiqa Group, Shababek for Contemporary Art, Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre, Ramallah Municipality, RIWAQ and Birzeit University Museum.
The /si:n/ Festival of Video Art and Performance was established in 2009 by a group of culture and art institutions. The festival aims to create spaces for the exhibition of and research into video art and performance, and to encourage new forms of seeing and interaction. Building on cooperation among its partner institutions, it is intended to introduce new formulas of collective cultural and artistic work. Seeking to challenge both geographical and political divisions, it strives to extend the scope of its work and public outreach across all of Palestine.