24 April 23, 2017 Travel www.thearabweekly.com

Agenda

Doha: Through May 21

Picasso-Giacometti is an exhibition that begins at the Fire Station Artist in Residence centre in Doha. The exhibi- tion includes more than 80 works from collections of the Musée National Picasso and the Foundation Giacometti in Paris, including “The She Goat” (1950) by Pablo Picasso and Alberto Giacometti’s “Tall Woman” (1960).

Beirut: Through June 1

Souk El Tayeb is a weekly market that hosts more than 60 producers from across Leba- non with food products as well as traditional and handmade crafts. Souk El Tayeb is open 10am-4pm each Thursday at the Village Dbayeh. A view of the Hammam al-Shefa in the old souk of Nablus. (Leila Molan Aallen) Beirut: Through December 28

Events associated with Sursock Visiting Nablus, Museum Late Nights take place noon-9pm each Thursday at the Sursock Museum. The event includes exhibitions, collection displays, late-night the ‘Little Damascus’ talks, performances and screenings.

Medenine: of Palestine April 28- May 7 The fourth Ouerghemma Lizzie Porter Away from the tourist trappings Folklore Festival centres on a of Bethlehem and Jerusalem, which Berber village in Medenine, a draw the majority of visitors to the town in south-eastern Tunisia. Nablus territories, Nablus is a working city Visitors can attend folklore that has retained its elegance de- shows of music, poetry and here was a time when Na- spite military incursions. Its net- dance, enjoy traditional food blus in the northern Pal- work of khans, mosques, souks and and handcrafted products. estinian territories was working hammams may be smaller not a place for leisurely than those that weave the streets of Dougga: wandering. During the Baghdad, Sana’a or Cairo but Nab- April 29-30 TIsraeli invasion at the height of the lus is every bit as captivating. second intifada in 2002, the city suf- The city is known as “little Da- The first Sound of Stones fes- fered badly. Many buildings were mascus,” thanks to its Ottoman-era tival will take place in Dougga, bombed and people killed. architecture, similar to that of the an archaeological site in Today, Nablus is a happier place Syrian capital, and its reputation as northern Tunisia. The festival and the continued Israeli military a centre of learning. Its Souk al-Ta- includes performances from in- occupation of the West Bank is not jari, a covered area where material ternational and local electronic stopping the defiant city’s growth. and clothing sellers are clustered, musicians. Since last December, Nablus has is even known as “Souk al Hamidi- been twinned with Boulder, Colo- yeh,” after the roofed market in the Algeria: rado, in the United States, and April centre of Damascus. During May features the second Nablus Festi- “The hammams of Nablus and val, celebrating local and interna- Damascus are like one,” said Adel The 18th European Cultural tional literature, visual art and mu- al-Lubada, who works in Hammam Festival in Algeria brings to- sic in venues across the city. al-Hana, one of the city’s public gether artists from more than bathhouses. a dozen countries to perform Although he said most of the cli- traditional rhythms, jazz and The city’s network entele were people from outside flamenco. It takes place in of khans, mosques, the city and he bemoaned the lack Majdi Abu Hamdi serves his famous piping hot knafeh to waiting Algiers, Tlemcen and Constan- of official or government financial crowds. (Leila Molan Aallen) tine. souks and working help for restoration and operating hammams is costs, he said he believed the ham- Dubai: captivating. mam would stay open. who left 5 minutes before the at- At the Al-Aqsa Bakery on Al- May 1-25 “There is a future here. Young tack, caused about $40,000 worth Naser Street, the smell of hot sug- Preparations were under way re- people come here before their wed- of damage. ar wafts from giant lily pad-like “Mary Poppins,” a musical cently with bunting fluttering in the dings with their friends, eat, cele- The hammam has been returned metal trays. The establishment play, will be performed at the breeze above the Old City’s winding brate, relax in the hammam. People to its former glory, with thick, hot is renowned for knafeh, the Nab- Dubai Opera. It is the story of streets. Venues, including the Khan don’t talk politics here. It is a place black and white marble tiles, ready lusi pastry made from soft cheese, Mary Poppins, the nanny who al Wakala, a caravanserai that was for relaxing.” for the day’s customers. Bath access wheat and syrup. The huddles of could fly around with her um- reopened in 2012 after a restoration Nablus’s other working bath costs about $10 and a 30-minute waiting customers say something brella and find anything in her funded by the local council and the house, the 17th-century Ash-Shifa, massage is $14 extra. Post-scrub, about the quality. bag. The production involves European Union, were preparing to was hit by Israeli rockets in 2002, shisha, tea and coffee are at hand. “We don’t count how many the audience in adventures welcome artists ranging from tradi- damaging the roofs of the steam Nablus also remains a hub of Pal- knafeh we make in a day but we through fantastic effects and tional dabke dance performers to chambers. The missiles, which nar- estinian industry, echoing its past finish one every 5-10 minutes,” choreography. Belgian choirs. rowly missed a party of 40 people as a trading point for soap, olive oil said Majdi Abu Hamdi, pointing at and cotton across the Levant. one of the metre-wide pastries and Palestinian territories: Basil Break owns the Break Mill, slicing it into portions. “This crowd May 13-18 opened by his family in 1936 in is nothing. Sometimes there is a a 400-year-old building near the queue down the street,” added the The tenth Palestine Festival of city’s Al-Khadra Mosque, suppos- seller, who has been working at Al- Literature — PalFest — takes edly where Prophet Jacob wept af- Aqsa for 45 years. place across historic Palestine. ter discovering the death of his son Nablus remains a place that The annual travelling festival Joseph. sparks immense pride. “If I leave includes free public events, Originally a coffee and spice mill, Nablus for one week, I find myself such as readings, workshops, the shop sells those products along- wanting to come back,” said Musta- music performances, debates, side a small museum displaying ob- fa Ajdad, an ambulance driver and meetings with authors and art- jects from Palestinian villages. shopkeeper in the Old City. ists and visits to historic sites. “We created this to show off old “I want my children to go to ways of working and crafts in Pal- study in Germany but I want them estine,” explained Break, perched to come back here to Nablus and We welcome submissions of next to a low-slung, faded sofa. “My develop and improve this place. I calendar items related to favourite object is the coffee grind- live with this city, and I am proud cultural events of interest to er — the mehbaj. I like people from of that.” travellers in the Middle East outside coming to my city — visi- and North Africa. tor numbers are weak and we want Lizzie Porter is a Beirut-based Please send tips to: Fresh fruit and vegetable produce on display at Souk al-Tajari in more to come. There is safety and freelance journalist focusing on [email protected] Nablus. (Leila Molan Aallen) stability here now.” the Middle East.