Chiara Geraci is a dancer and a composition student at the National Academy of Dance.

The work presents a dance performance that uses the olive tree as a symbol of dialogue among Mediterranean cultures. Its symbolic strength is deliberately challenged, revealing its inability to prevent suffering, death, and destruction. The JERUS-IT-ARTS Contest invited the creation of artistic and performative works that reflect, interpret, or make visible the historical and contemporary connections between Italy and Jerusalem and, more broadly, across the Mediterranean. Chiara Geraci's "Elaia" is the selected project in the "Dance" section of the contest.

Mahmoud Abuwarda is a Palestinian professional, composer, and guitarist from Gaza, residing in Istanbul.

In Sonata Fantasia for solo cello, composed specifically for the JERUS-IT-ARTS project, the author explores the cello as a meeting point between different traditions. The JERUS-IT-ARTS Contest invited the creation of artistic and performative works that reflect, interpret, or make visible the historical and contemporary connections between Italy and Jerusalem and, more broadly, across the Mediterranean. Mahmoud Abuwarda's "Sonata Fantasia for solo cello" is one of the selected projects in the "Music" section of the contest.

Yousef Sakhnini is a Palestinian composer living in Haifa.

He proposed to JERUS-IT-ARTS Contest an original solo piano composition structured in 4 miniatures representing different character aspects of Jerusalem: "Voices Beneath the Ground" (echo of the past), "Inside the Walls" (conflict and siege), "Beauty in Jerusalem" (spirituality and beauty that blooms from tension), and "Layers upon Layers" (a polyphonic fugue symbolizing historical stratification). The JERUS-IT-ARTS Contest invited the creation of artistic and performative works that reflect, interpret, or make visible the historical and contemporary connections between Italy and Jerusalem and, more broadly, across the Mediterranean. Yousef Sakhnini's "Music composition for piano solo" is one of the selected projects in the "Music" section of the contest.

Andrea Strizzi is a sculptor and decorator, born in Giussano, who has placed the interaction between drawing, sculpture, and music at the center of his work. The work is accompanied by the sounds of beats of varying intensity. It proposes a musical and tactile journey engraved in clay, a material that unites all the shores of the Mediterranean. The JERUS-IT-ARTS Contest invited the creation of artistic and performative works that reflect, interpret, or make visible the historical and contemporary connections between Italy and Jerusalem and, more broadly, across the Mediterranean. Andrea Strizzi's "Toccare il suono - Impronte sonore" is the selected project in the "Video Performance" section of the contest.

2026 JERUS-IT-ARTS International Contest - Music, Dance, Performing and Visual Arts The contest invited the creation of artistic and performative works that reflect, interpret, or make visible the historical and contemporary connections between Italy and Jerusalem and, more broadly, across the Mediterranean. The call for artworks resulted in the selection of 4 contributions that foster intercultural dialogue, recognise and value diversity, and generate compelling artistic narratives across music, dance, and visual media. The contest’s participants were celebrated in a dedicated online event on 8 April 2026.