The Handala Project takes place in Spring 2011. The festival features live and digitally webcast concerts in the United Kingdom and the Palestinian territories, and a series of film screenings and education initiatives.
The Handala Project is a celebration of top quality collaborative music making from both the Western Classical and Oriental Arabic traditions. We're also celebrating the musical culture of Palestine, and making sure that contemporary Palestinian musical culture is recognized around the world.
Any initiative in the Occupied Territories can be interpreted as a political act simply by the virtue of its existence. And our choice of Handala as the identity of the festival will tell you that everyone involved in the project believes that the currently non-existent state of Palestine should have the right to exist.
However, The Handala Project as an organization has no political agenda whatsoever. The political affiliations and viewpoints of our performers, partners and audiences will differ wildly, but our love of music is universal. That's what The Project celebrates.
Our concerts are open to all who love music for music's sake, and who have the freedom to travel to our concert venues.
Though the project is over a year away, we are already in advanced stages of planning, and at this time we warmly welcome expressions of interest from potential partners and sponsors. We have confirmed support from Deutsche Bank and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and will be arranging events at some of the UK's most prestigious venues. In the Palestinian territories, we will be performing in cities including Ramallah and Jerusalem.
Please don't hesitate to contact us if you are interested in supporting us in any way; in kind, through direct sponsorship, or with assistance and advice.
At the time of writing (November 2009), it is safe for foreign visitors to come and stay in Palestine, particularly in Ramallah. Subject to continued good security at the time of the festival, we will strongly encourage visitors from outside the Middle East to come and visit in Spring 2011 and to enjoy The Handala Project in person. We'll be adding more information to this website nearer the time about travel options and special travel deals from our partners.
This new website has been set up to tell the story of the festival as it happens. Please connect with us and if you can help in any way, please let us know!
http://www.thehandalaproject.com/