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By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 9 June 2014:
Graffiti in Libya has become a recognised art form since the revolution, as so many . . .[restrict]wall in towns and cities can testify. Books have been published about it, articles written, exhibitions and workshops held. The fascination continues.
Young Libyan graffiti artists had the opportunity to hone their skills working alongside Italian artists at recent workshops on street art held in Tripoli and Misrata, resulting in several large murals.
As part of the Libya Meets Europe programme, four workshops were held with the aim of creating murals on wooden panels that will be displayed around Libya, including, hopefully, in Tripoli’s Martyr’s Square. Two workshops took place in Tripoli, one in the Art House, a partner in the initiative and one in Tripoli University’s Faculty of Fine Arts.
Two of the workshops, held 18-23 May 2014, were organized in partnership with Misrata’s Assakeefa Art Gallery and the University of Misurata. The workshops featured Milanese couple Wally and Alita, artistically known as Orticanoodles. Libyan artist Mohammed Bin Lamin, owner of Assakeefa, was on hand as participants in Misrata created a large mural depicting flowers in the colours of Libya’s flag.
More photos can be seen of the creation of this mural at https://www.facebook.com/misurataart.
Libya Meets Europe, organised by the Italian Cultural Institute and funded by grants from the EU, aimed to offer opportunities to young Libyans to broaden their experiences and exchanges with European culture.
A representative of the Italian Institute of Culture noted: “The active participation of local cultural centres, as well as the strong response of the public and the students involved are certainly a clear sign of success of the entire project, to be repeated soon if possible as by many Libyans’ request.”
Libya Meets Europe started in April 2013 with the first edition of the Libya Movie Awards, a contest conceived and realised in partnership with 1Libya, an NGO. More than 80 young Libyan short-film makers from across the country participated. At the final ceremony, held in November 2013 at the Corinthia Hotel and attended by the Minister of Culture and Civil Society, an international panel composed of Spanish and Italian short-film directors judged the competition.
The Libya Meets Europe programme also organised a concert of five soloists from the Orchestra Popolare Italiana, held in a packed National Theatre in Misrata on 12 March. The concert, with opening performances by Libyan artists, brought the Mediterranean flavor of the southern tarantellas to the Libyan shores.
Soon afterward there was a concert in Tripoli’s Waddan Hotel at which more than 600 people enjoyed the rhythm of tambourines, accordions, bagpipes and clarinets. Young Libyan lute player Khalil Fathi Khalil Al-Hassi from Derna also entertained the audience, as well as music students from the University of Tripoli under the direction of Professor Hanan Bekderna.
Poetry was also a focus of Libya Meets Europe, with several international poets interacting with Libyan poets at poetry readings held in Ghadames and Nalut. A final poetry reading was celebrated in the old British Consulate in Tripoli’s Old City, with readings by Amazigh and Arab Libyan poets.
There is the possibility of the EU funding a similar programme again in the future. The funding s aimed at providing Libyans of all generations with the chance to link up their own thoughts and ideas with cultural stimuli from abroad and in doing so strengthen their own roots and cultural identity.
Last week, Libya said farewell to the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Tripoli, Rubens Piovano, who is retiring and returning to Rome. [/restrict]
