“From Generation to Generation”… An art exhibition held in Damascus to highlight Palestinian heritage  

More than 30 plastic artists and craftswomen showcased various handicrafts through their participation in the “From Generation to Generation” art exhibition, which was held by the General Union of Palestinian Writers and Journalists (The Folklore Association – Creativity Group) in cooperation with Wathiqat Watan ( Homeland Document) Foundation.

The two-day exhibition, which was opened on Friday at the headquarters of Wathiqat Wattan Foundation in Damascus, displayed a variety of handmade works of the Palestinian heritage, including various types of embroidered pieces, traditional textiles, wood carving figures, glass painting, and fabric recycling.

In a statement to reporters during the opening of the exhibition, Dr. Buthaina Shaaban, Head of the Board of Trustees of Wathiqat Wattan Foundation, stressed the importance of this exhibition as it introduces Palestinian heritage works as the war in the world today is a war of identity and proof of existence through culture.

Shaaban indicated that the exhibition proves the existence of the great civilization of Palestine, its history, its people, and Syria as well, in its larger geographical meaning, because all these crafts were the Levantine crafts, and each country adopted them in a certain way.

She praised the creativity that distinguished the art works displayed with the aim of reviving the traditional crafts inherited from parents and grandparents, pointing out that the exhibition reflected the originality of the Palestinian and Arab people and their cultural heritage and creativity.

Shaaban called on the funding sides to pay attention to supporting and marketing these ideas created by these women at the national, regional and international levels, in order to introduce the cultural values ​​that we possess and the heritage that attract the world with its creative thought and masterful craftsmanship.

For his part, a member of the General Secretariat of the General Union of Palestinian Writers Abdul Fattah Idris, noted the importance of the exhibition as it introduces the Palestinian heritage, which is characterized by diversity and richness, stressing the need to preserve and defend it because it is part of the identity that the Israeli occupation seeks to obliterate and seize this heritage and market it to the world as part of its false civilization

Writer, Khalaf Al-Muftah, indicated that the exhibition showcased various forms of Palestinian heritage and culture that are subject to a process of Judaization and Zionist robbery, pointing out that it is necessary to preserve Palestinian culture on the one hand, and to fight the American cultural invasion on the other hand.

Al-Muftah stressed that preserving heritage is preserving the past and defending the present and the future, noting the importance of the exhibition in shedding light on the Palestinian heritage and the creativity of the participants which expressed the role of the artist and the intellectual in preserving the national identity and culture.

In turn, Dr. Najla’a Al-Khadra, coordinator of the exhibition, thanked Wathiqat Wattan Foundation for hosting the exhibition, which will help the women introduced themselves as craftswomen and creators participating in the exhibition and ensure the continuity of the Palestinian heritage and its transmission from generation to generation.

She stressed that the exhibition reflected the Palestinian people’s adherence to their homeland, identity, belonging and their insistence on their right to return to their land .

A number of participants in the exhibition stressed the importance of the exhibition’s role in introducing the Palestinian culture, stressing the need to hold similar exhibitions constantly , present traditional ideas in modern ways that serve the new generation in addition to display art works of the Syrian heritage in the exhibition.

Rawaa Ghanam