DAI congratulates the International Art of Art – Palestine (IAAP), the Palestinian Association of Contemporary Art (PACA), the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHIO) and the Birzeit University with their jointeffort to inaugurate a new BA program in Contemporary Visual Art

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A new chapter in higher arts education in Palestine!
 
Announcement by:
Palestinian Association of Contemporary Art (PACA)
International Art of Art – Palestine (IAAP)
Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KhiO)
Birzeit University

Since its start in 2006, IAAP’s BA program has been the product of shared vision of higher art education in Palestine.  After 10 years of pioneering work and graduating batches of visual art students who have reinforced the cultural work in Palestine, PACA/IAAP will be phasing out its BA program and focusing on advancing the practice and understanding of contemporary visual art in Palestinian society through short courses, workshops and capacity building.

In order to ensure the local ownership, sustainability and further development of this vision, IAAP/PACA and KHIO have entered into a landmark agreement with Birzeit University to create a new BA program in Contemporary Visual Art. The new program will be based on IAAP/PACA’s unique experience in pedagogy and methodologies of art education developed in collaboration with KHiO.

The IAAP/KHIO program will draw to a conclusion by the end of the academic year 2017-2018. During that year, the program will be hosted on Birzeit University campus so the final cohort of IAAP students can complete their BA studies and receive their degrees from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts.
Birzeit University has begun developing a new faculty of Art and Music, commencing with the bachelor program in Arabic Music in co-operation with Edward Said Conservatory of Music. The new faculty will foster the growth of learning in the creative fields of design, visual art, performing arts, moving image and music for the Palestinian community in the 21st Century. The faculty aims to put creativity and cultural knowledge at the heart of the lives of students at Birzeit University through its courses, activities across the fields of art. Birzeit is building for the future, designing programs and courses that will serve the Palestinian community in the decades to come.

IAAP/PACA would like to thank all the individuals and organizations, both local and international, for the support of our initiative during the last 10 years – particularly the Norwegian Representative Office. Events are planned in April to celebrate our shared efforts and will be detailed in an upcoming announcement.