Europe's first museum of contemporary Palestinian art opens in Edinburgh
Europe's first museum of contemporary Palestinian art which aims to 'redefine the narrative around Palestinian identity, art, and resilience' has opened in Edinburgh.
The Palestine Museum in Scotland features work from a range of Palestinian artists showcasing paintings, sculptures and installations.
The museum, which opens in central Edinburgh on Saturday, is the first of its kind in Europe and aims to counteract the 'dehumanisation' of the Palestinian people by illustrating their culture and narrative through art.
'We wanted to be in the best location in Edinburgh, because we want people to know that as Palestinians, we are not helpless victims, we are talented people,' curator and director Faisal Saleh told the PA news agency.
'The reason we are creating this museum is to allow people to understand the truth of what's happening and we are using Palestinian art as a means to communicate the Palestinian narrative.
'We want people to see our artwork and to see that Palestinians are human.
'All these efforts to dehumanise and to erase the Palestinians are not working, and we are hereby opening a museum that is full of beautiful artwork.'
The museum in Edinburgh, is the first branch of an existing museum in Woodbridge, Connecticut called the Palestine Museum US.
Mr Saleh said the team had originally tried to open the museum in the building that previously held the Israeli embassy in Dublin following Israel's announcement that it would shut down.
However after a lot of push back from the building's owners the team decided on Edinburgh as a location given the city's festival culture.
The Palestine Museum in Scotland showcases work from both international and local Palestinian artists.
It features artist Samia Halaby, who won a special mention at last year's Venice Biennale, and work by 81-year-old Nabil Anani, who is regarded as a key founder of the contemporary Palestinian art movement.
Sana Farah Bishara, a Nazareth-born sculptor based in Haifa, also features, as well as recent works created in Gaza by Mohammed Alhaj and Maisara Baroud.
'We have children's drawings from Gaza that are being exhibited.
'We have embroidery pieces,' said Mr Saleh.
'We also have some installations representing the forced evacuations.
'We have a keffiyeh bundle.
'It's a bundle of memories that represents what Palestinians leave when they get kicked out of their homes.'
The museum is also exhibiting work by local artists in Edinburgh including a bronze bust sculpture of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, who has been detained by the Israeli army since December.
A University of Edinburgh professor is exhibiting three smaller sculptures depicting Palestinians in Gaza mourning their dead children.
'It's a very emotional expression of pain memorialising what happened in Gaza, in sculpture and in paintings,' said Mr Saleh.
Mr Saleh, a US Palestinian entrepreneur based in Connecticut, said he has been blown away by the reception he has received in Edinburgh.
'We've got some special treatment for being Palestinian so it's been a great experience so far,' he said.
'We really appreciate the Scottish hospitality.'
The Palestine Museum Scotland is an independent, not-for-profit organisation and will be run by volunteers.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
19 minutes ago
- The Sun
Love Island's Ronnie grows close to stunning influencer as they're spotted flirting after Harriett split
LOVE Island's Ronnie Vint is already growing close to a glamorous influencer just days after his split from Harriett Blackmore. The Sun can exclusively reveal Ronnie spent a night in Ibiza chatting up stunning Lauren Watson, who has 153,000 followers on Instagram. 5 5 5 He was at the launch of the Unexpected Hotel in Ibiza on Tuesday and spent most of it flirting with Lauren. An onlooker said: 'Ronnie looked really into Lauren, and certainly wasn't spending his time pining over Harriett. "He's always had an eye for the ladies, so it was no surprise that Lauren caught his attention. "They spent most of the night chatting and looked very cosy. They're also following each other on social media already.' A rep for Ronnie declined to comment. Prior to the Ibiza getaway, Ronnie and Harriett unfollowed each other on social media and deleted pictures. Yesterday we confirmed they had split up. Fans had spotted that footballer Ronnie, 28, had removed photos of Harriett, 25, from Instagram - sparking fears they had separated. But Ronnie took to his Instagram story to deny that they were on the rocks at the time, and said posts about the break-up were fake. The Love Island star shared a screengrab from an Instagram page that claimed he and Harriett had split. The post appeared to show Ronnie commenting: "Yeah it's true. Will explain my side of things later," along with the caption: "Ronnie Vint is sharing his side of that story with what happened with Harriett." Love Island fans work out 'real reason' Olivia Attwood pushed Ronnie to make Harriett his girlfriend He insisted that was simply a cruel hoax by a social media user, writing: "This is clearly a set up. Edited because we are sweet and I haven't commented a thing. Thank you." The pair had planned to move in together this month before thing took a sour turn. Harriett told The Mirror: "In June. Everything's happening at once. "We're moving up towards London, which is exciting. "It's really close to Matilda (Draper), so we'll be spending a lot of time with her and going back and forth." Last summer, the pair originally split just weeks after leaving the villa. However, viewers watched as Harriet and Ronnie rekindled their connection on Love Island: All Stars. Ronnie was an original All Stars islander and Harriett entered as a bombshell on Day 11. The pair fell short of winning after being "dumped" on Day 34 of 36. 5 Love Island winners - where they are now EVERY year Love Island opens its doors to more sexy Islanders who are hoping for a holiday romance that could turn into more. Here we take you through all of the Love Island winners so far and what their relationship statuses are now: 2025 - The second series of All Stars saw Gabby Allen and Case O'Gorman scoop the crown. STATUS: Still together. 2024 - The summer Love Island saw Mimii Ngulube and Josh Oyinsan were crowned the winners. STATUS: Broken up. 2024 - The first ever All stars spin off show was won by Molly Smith and Tom Clare. STATUS: Still together. 2023 - Jess Harding and Sammy Root took home the 50k, and won the summer 2023 Love Island. STATUS: Broken up. 2023 - The first series of 2023 saw Sanam Harrinanan and Kai Fagan crowned Love Island winners in South Africa. STATUS: Still together. 2022 - Davide Sanclimenti and Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu's time in the villa was anything but a smooth ride, but they managed to win the public's hearts - and the ITV2 reality show. STATUS: Broken up. 2021 - Liam Reardon and Millie Court were announced winners of Love Island 2021. STATUS: Still together. 2020 - The first ever winter Love Island saw Paige Turley and Finn Tapp crowned winners after falling in love on the show. STATUS: Broken up. 2019 - Series 5 saw Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae Hague runners up to winners Greg O'Shea and Amber Gill, who met in the last few days of the series. STATUS: Broken up. 2018 - It wasn't surprising fan favourites Jack Fincham and Dani Dyer won the show, as they were strong throughout. But sadly things didn't last. STATUS: Broken up. 2017 - Kem Cetinay and Amber Davies had lots of ups and downs in the villa but went on to win. STATUS: Broken up. 2016 - Nathan Massey and Cara De La Hoyde were together from the start of the series, and since they won the show they've had two kids and are married. STATUS: Still together. 2015 - Despite poor Jess Hayes being Max Morley's second choice on the show, they did win - but they didn't last as a couple. STATUS: Broken up.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Nan Shepherd: Naked and Unashamed review – the poetry, prose and passion of a Scottish modernist
The title comes from a short story about two hikers on a camping trip. They decide to cast off their clothes and walk through the countryside as nature intended, only to be mistaken for poachers. The story's combination of humour, transgression and ear for the Doric dialect of north-east Scotland were characteristic qualities of its author, Nan Shepherd (1893-1981), a writer unashamed by her nakedness and celebrated for her evocations of Scotland's rural environment. Celebrated, that is, once The Living Mountain, her short book about walking in the Cairngorms, was published. That was in 1977, three decades after its completion, but more especially in 2011 when it was republished by Canongate, just as it was slipping back into obscurity. It had not always been that way. As the author of three interwar novels, Shepherd was considered a significant modernist writer in her day. But, having turned her attention to teaching, not to mention roaming the hills, she had been largely forgotten at the time of her death in 1981. As this one-act play by Richard Baron and Ellie Zeegen would have it, she is a woman with little concern for posterity. Played by Susan Coyle, Shepherd is resistant to flattery and modest about her achievements, coming most alive at the sound of poetry; sometimes her own, just as often not. At times in Baron's production, she asks members of the audience to read her favourite passages aloud (which, at my performance, they do impressively). Part of a generation that included the novelist Neil M Gunn and the poet Hugh MacDiarmid, Shepherd enthuses about contemporaries such as Virginia Woolf, to whom she was compared. This literary passion, along with an unconventional private life, is at the heart of a play that swirls around her story, taking us from wide-eyed child, discovering the beauty of pine cones, to care-home resident, refusing to be patronised by the staff. Coyle switches from excitable youth to stiff-limbed old woman and all points in between, while Adam Buksh gamely plays lovers, academics and carers. If the play skims the surface of Shepherd's appeal as a writer, it is nonetheless a warm-hearted evocation of a life led with self-determination in and out of the shadows. At Pitlochry Festival theatre until 14 June
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Inside Dua Lipa's jaw-dropping Radical Optimism Tour as pop ‘goddess' wows fans ahead of sell out Wembley shows
DUA LIPA is riding the crest of an enormous wave – and there's no slowing down. After the singer flew me out to Amsterdam as the first British reporter to see her in action on the 80-date Radical Optimism world tour, I'm blown away by how much she's developed as a performer. 6 In each country so far, including Japan, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand, Dua is held up as a goddess by her fans. And in Amsterdam she gets a rapturous reception after speaking to the sell-out audience in Dutch — which is no easy task. 'Amsterdam is like a second home for us,' Dua's dad and manager Dugi tells me as we catch up over Negroni cocktails before the concert, where I congratulate him on the success of the shows so far. 'It's all for the fans,' he adds with a smile. 'We want them to come to the show and have a great time.' It's impossible not to enjoy the two-hour set, in which Dua smashes her way through high-energy dance routines as pyrotechnics explode all around her and confetti falls from the ceiling. New tracks from her latest No1 album, including Training Season, End Of An Era and Falling Forever, go down a storm with the crowd as Dua whips into classics such as One Kiss and Be The One. By playing venues this size — more than 18,000 are at the Amsterdam show — Dua could be forgiven for putting all the focus on to her stage performance. But at every gig she goes into the audience to speak to her fans. One sobbing boy, Mattice, can't believe his luck as Dua leans in for a hug, prompting her to joke: 'Please don't cry, we've only just started the show. It's not that bad is it?' Also among the lucky few are a couple due to marry in the next two days, and a superfan wearing a shark's head in a nod to the Radical Optimism album's artwork — with Dua saying as he takes it off: 'Oh, you're cute.' Her good humour continues and after losing an impromptu game of truth or dare, she picks the latter and is asked to perform the original dance from One Kiss, which has become pop legend. Smiling for the cameras that beam her picture around the arena, Dua dutifully carries off the move and the crowd, who have been right behind her from day one, go absolutely bananas. Back on stage, she then goes into Scared To Be Lonely in a tribute to her collaborator, DJ Martin Garrix, who is also watching in the crowd, before nailing Physical, Hallucinate and Illusion. The arena is transformed into a rave, with the audience hooked on every word, before Dua brings the focus on to her powerful vocals. 'You're cute' She makes light work of Be The One and Anything For Love — which is even more impressive given that she has spent 90 minutes going through physically demanding choreography while barely stopping for a break. The energy then fires back up to boiling point for an insanely good four-song encore of New Rules, Dance The Night, Don't Start Now and Houdini, with Dua's high- intensity just as impressive as at the start of the evening. She has concerts in Italy and Belgium to go before she will return to the UK for two huge back-to-back shows at Wembley Stadium, on June 20 and 21, and two gigs at Anfield in Liverpool on June 24 and 25. The four dates will see her perform to more than 250,000 fans. It is an incredible comparison when you think that the first Wembley show will take place 3,000 days after her first ever live appearance in the capital, at the 250- capacity Oslo Hackney venue in East London. By the time Dua has finished the UK leg of the tour — before moving on to the US — she will have performed to almost one million people. Rising pop stars should take note . . . Dua is living proof that you can become a superstar thanks to hard work, good grace and a bloody good voice. 6 SABRINA IN SHAWN DIG SABRINA CARPENTER has taken aim at her ex Shawn Mendes yet again in new single Manchild. Their 2023 fling inspired much of her chart-topping album Short n' Sweet, but it is still giving her inspiration for songs, as she seemingly lays into the hunk on the track released yesterday. 6 She sings: 'Half your brain just ain't there,' before adding: 'Why so sexy if so dumb? And how survive the Earth so long?' It is expected to be the first song from her next album, which is impressive given it has only been ten months since her last one came out. When she announced the title, many fans believed it would be about actor Barry Keoghan, who she dated for a year until December. But in a caption on Instagram, she said she wrote the track shortly after completing work on Short n' Sweet, at which time she was still in love with Barry. Sabrina said: 'Not only was it fun to write, but this song became to me something I can look back on, that will score the mental montage to the very confusing and fun young adult years of life.' In another nod to Shawn, who is very close to his parents – while Barry's mum died when he was 12 – she sings: 'I choose to blame your mom.' I doubt Mrs Mendes will be too pleased. MARIAH REVERTS TO TYPE 6 MARIAH CAREY is teaming up with visual genius Joseph Khan – the man behind her All I Want For Christmas Is You video – for new single Type Dangerous. She is preparing to film a vid to accompany the track, which came out yesterday. It is the first she's put out in seven years and is the debut song from her upcoming 16th studio album. 'I'm so excited to finally be releasing Type Dangerous into the world,' Mariah, left, said. 'I've been locked up in the studio for quite some time working my behind off on new music, and I'm thrilled for the unveiling of it to my fans, starting with Type Dangerous.' Those going to Capital's Summertime Ball with Barclaycard will hear her belt out the song at Wembley next Sunday, before she headlines Brighton Pride on August 2 and performs at the Sandringham Estate on August 15. Welcome back, Mariah. We've missed you. OASIS ARE ROTTEN FOR JOHN 6 SEX PISTOLS rocker John Lydon says he's probably one of the only British music stars who'll be giving the Oasis reunion a wide berth. When I asked if he would be heading down to one of the shows, the singer, aka Johnny Rotten, told me: 'No. They're my mates but I hate their music. 'It's very difficult for me to go to other people's gigs. People don't leave me alone and let me enjoy myself. 'I knocked it on the head a few years ago. I love dancing, you're enjoying yourself and some a***hole will stand right in front of you and waffle banal nonsense which is distracting you from the point and purpose.' Speaking to me from his tour of the UK with his band Public Image LTD, he added: 'I love Noel, because he just says it like it is. 'Him and Liam make me laugh when they do interviews because they are so witty and on it in a working class, quick-as-you can way.' DIANA ON HIGH SEAS 6 DIANA ROSS is swapping arenas for the ocean waves, as godmother of Royal Caribbean's newest ship Star of the Seas. The title has been given to her as she's agreed to perform on the maiden voyage in September, when it will make its debut in Orlando. And Diana will be fresh from her UK tour, which starts this month. The Chain Reaction singer said: 'I've always felt a deep connection to the ocean and the magic it represents – peace, adventure and awe. 'When Royal Caribbean reached out to invite me to be the godmother of Star of the Seas, I knew it was something truly special.' WELL done to the brilliant Anna Lapwood after her new album Firedove went straight to the top of the Classical Album Official Charts. The organist recorded it at Nidaros Cathedral in Norway and said: 'I'm very proud of it.'
