ABSTRACT
Since the 1993 signing of the Oslo Accords and the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, much of the institutional cultural production in Palestine has been tailored to construct and consolidate symbols and practices of Palestinian sovereignty, a trend that was magnified in the decade that followed the second intifada. In 2011, during the author time in the field, the Palestinian Authority decided to seek alternative paths to the stalled “peace process” by bypassing Israeli entrenchment, internationalizing the conflict arena and negotiating Palestinian independence at the United Nations. Al-Kamandjati’s Ramallah center was one of the first buildings dating to the Ottoman period to be renovated in the Old Ramallah neighborhood, as part of the boom of architectural heritage preservation in Palestine. The performative and discursive reach of annual festivals occurs through the geographical scope and range of venues in which they take place.
