Musician Nizar Al Issa was the star turn at a ‘Dine in Palestine’ event held at the University of Birmingham.
The occasion invited guests to discover more about the arts and music of Palestine, whilst dining on traditional dishes, such as hommous, maqluba and baklava.
The evening began with two art exhibitions, followed by two short talks about the exhibitions by Rod Cox and Rich Wiles. This was followed by a three-course sit-down Palestinian meal with a choice of five starters, two main courses and baklava for dessert.
The evening was rounded off by two performances from Palestinian musician Nizar Al Issa. Performing traditional Palestinian music, Mr Al Issa also invited members of the audience to request their favourite songs for him to play on the Oud.
During the events, attendees also had the opportunity to engage with Mr Cox and Mr Wiles and to ask questions about Palestinian art.
Blanche Pope, organiser of the event, said: "It was a huge success and it was fantastic to host an evening that contributes to promoting the arts of Palestine in such a positive light. We were honoured to have Nizar Al Issa perform for us."
With family roots in Ramallah, Palestine, Nizar was born and raised in Kuwait for twenty years before moving to Jordan.
He has now settled in the UK and is one of the world’s leading exponents of Palestinian music and heads up the Palestinian Ministry of Culture’s official music group Al Ashekeen, whose aim is to promote the music and dance of Palestine.
Nizar Al Issa said: "It gives me great pleasure to perform at these type of events, which promote the arts of my beautiful homeland."
