Since the selection of the finalists by an independent jury in March, the shortlisted artists Aya Abu Ghazaleh, Bashar Khalaf, Farah Saleh, Hamody Gannam, Hanadi Abu Jamal, Iman Al Sayed, Majdal Nateel, Noor Abed and Noor Abuarafeh have been engaged in a number of online meetings where they learned more about the conceptual framework of the project and exchanged and shared ideas with international lecturers: artists and cultural practitioners.

The online workshops were held by the artists Uriel Orlow, Rania Bellou, Hrair Sarkisian, Amina Menia and curators Zdenka Badovinac and Fereshte Moosavi.

The art works of the nine finalists will be exhibited in a public exhibition organised within QI in October. The jury of distinguished Palestinian and internationally renowned artists, curators, commentators and professionals in the fields of culture and the visual arts will meet the artists, view the exhibition and select first, second and third prize winners.

The exhibition represents one stage of a long and complex process that will continue beyond the opening. The YAYA exhibition will be followed by a panel entitled ‘On self-historization, (in) visible narratives, imagination and other (hi)stories’ by Uriel Orlow,  Michael Rakowitz and Carolina Rito, a workhop by Lia Perjovschi, and a trip to Nablus Municipality Library for Beatrice Catanzaro’s project The Prisoner’s Section. A blog will also be created after the end of the exhibition to document the award, and become an online platform for artists to exchange ideas and connect.