Ramallah - Palestinian and German officials and art scholars inaugurated Thursday in Ramallah the first Palestinian drama academy. With an initial fund of 300,000 euros (530,000 dollars) provided by the German organization Stiftung Mercator, the Ramallah-based al- Kasaba Theatre and Cinematheque joined hands with the German Folkwang University to launch the drama academy.
The academy, a result of over three years of preparation, aims at providing Palestinian students interested in studying drama the opportunity to get an undergraduate degree in drama on Palestinian soil.
George Ibrahim, director of al-Kasaba theatre, said that he has had a dream for a long time to establish an academy for theater arts.
"At the end of every school year, students interested in theatre would ask me where they can learn drama and if there is any possibility to study it here in Palestine," said Ibrahim.
This interest motivated Ibrahim to search for international partners to help him set up a drama academy in Palestine.
"I have left no place, no theatre in any country of the world that I have visited without looking for a partner or a help in establishing a drama academy," he said.
Ibrahim found his quest in one of Europe's leading schools in the teaching of art, including drama, music and dance, and that was Folkwang University.
Within a short time and in January, Ibrahim signed an agreement with university officials to set up the drama academy in Ramallah in full partnership between the two institutions.
Months later, al-Kasaba's Drama Academy began auditioning students. Out of 70 applicants, the new academy was able to handle only 12 students, only those who passed auditions with high grades. The new school years starts immediately after the inauguration.
The students will study under three Palestinian and three German instructors for three years, after which they will receive a bachelor's degree in drama, the first ever in the Palestinian territories.
The drama school was encouraged by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who in January 2008 launched the Palestine Toward the Future project with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The project includes cooperation in 30 projects, mainly cultural, between the Palestinian Authority and Germany and the drama academy is one of these projects.
Speaking at the inauguration of the academy, Fayyad said that he was proud of this achievement.
"I am proud and optimistic as we work together to build our independent state," said Fayyad, stressing that the Palestinian people have been able to preserve their national culture in spite of years of dispersion and attempts to wipe it.
"The academy, a movie theatre here or there, a public park are not something extravagant," he said. "These are necessities for the steadfastness of our people as we work to end the (Israeli) occupation and build our state."
"Theatre," he said, "is a powerful tool of resistance."
