preparing for a new project in Gaza

From 30th October until 9th November, Music Fund is sending a group of instrument technicians to the Westbank and Gaza. Since 2005 and thanks to the excellent collaboration with our partners, the A.M. Qattan Foundation (Gaza, Ramallah, London), Nablus the Culture (Nablus) as well as Al Kamandjati (Ramallah), a variety of initiatives have been brought to a good end in Palestine, such as the distribution of over 600-700 instruments to our partner-schools in the region (most of them to music schools in Ramallah and Nablus in the West Bank), initiation workshops in the Music School of Nablus, run by Nablus the Culture, and the Al Kamandjâti Music School in Ramallah, the realization of a documentary film on the distribution of the instruments, internships in Belgium, and many other activities. The work of Music Fund continued with a new initiative earlier this year: the training of piano tuners in Nablus (see also earlier entries on this blog). During his first initiaton-workshop in piano-tuning, given in July 2007, Olivier Marie, a French piano technician, realised that it would take a lot more to overcome the lack of piano technicians in the region. Building the skills to tune and repair pianos, is a particularly difficult and time-consuming goal to obtain. Impressed by the motivation of young Palestinians to pick up this complicated craft, the idea of staying a year and giving these talented people a proper long-term training grew naturally. Since April 2008 Olivier has been living and working for Music Fund in the Music School of Nablus the Culture, where 5 students attend his master classes in tuning and repairing pianos. A NEW PROJECT IN GAZA. With the recent opening of the Gaza Music School (an initiative of the A.M. Al-Qattan Foundation), the timing is perfect for Music Fund to organize a workshop for instrument technicians this Autumn: Four experts will pass on their knowledge: Christian Bertram for guitar-repair, Pol De Winter and Olivier Marie for piano-repair and tuning, and Baptiste Argouarc'h for repair of string instruments. We hope to receive the necessary permits to enter Gaza, but as one can never be sure of this, we are prepared to alternatively spend this working period in the Westbank, having our 'headquarters" at the Music School of Nablus (Nablus the Culture) and propose similar workshops there. The aim of this initiative is not only to pass on know-how but also to start the preparations for another internship in Belgium in 2009 and for the installation and development of repair-workshops in both schools. Music Fund is supported for this new project this Autumn by: The City of Lille (France), the Province of Antwerp (Belgium), Belgian Consulate Jerusalem, Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. © a view of one of our storage rooms of music instruments which will be donated to one of our partnerschools in the Middle East or Africa