Mr and Mrs Andrews Painting Analysis

Mr and Mrs Andrews Painting Analysis I chose to make the comparison between Gainsboroughs Mr Mrs Andrews and Shonebares Mr Mrs Andrews Without Their Heads because although the titles are similar and the concept is similar, there are distinct differences. The fundamental differences stem from the fact that Shonebare used mannequins, whereas Gainsborough painted in oil on canvas. Shonebare has excluded the landscape whereas Gainsborough has included his beloved landscape which is an important part of his paintings. These two artists are from two different backgrounds, different races and 235 years apart. The two pieces are an ocean apart: Gainsboroughs painting is hung in The National Gallery, London while Shonebares work is installed in The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Similarities The important differences in the two pieces are Gainsborough has a landscape in the background, whereas Shonebare has excluded this which alters the subject completely. For Gainsborough, the landscape was extremely important and by combining portraiture with landscape, this helped him to cover his love of landscape and at the same time earned a living, but it also gave us an historical insight into the landscapes in that period. Gainsboroughs sitters almost appear secondary, with the Andrews sitting under the oak tree and just about appearing in the portrait. The fact that Shonebare excludes the landscape is significant as the landscape depicts the wealth and status of Mr Andrews and by excluding this, Shonebare has appropriated a degree of this power and wealth. Gainsborough cursed the face business but Shonebares pieces without heads would not have worked in Gainsboroughs time for the simple fact that portraiture was popular in the mid 18th century. Portraitures were a way of indic ating to the world that a person had arrived. The face/eyes are the one thing that helps to give a human being identity it is like the window of a persons character and soul and by excluding this, there is an emptiness in Shonebares story, although one could argue that by being faceless the viewers can decide on the characters for themselves. Another significant factor in Shonebares Mr Mrs Andrew is by not having any heads, the eyes are drawn immediately to the beautiful vibrant fabrics. The Dutch Wax fabrics are important signifiers of Africa in Shonebares installation and although this is associated with Africa, it is in fact printed fabric based on Indonesians batik, manufactured in the Netherlands, Britain and other countries and exported to West Africa. This cloth has proved to be a rich and adaptable material, both literally and metaphorically, and it is vibrant and theatrical, although this particular installation is incongruous as the material does not marry up with the pe riod designs of the mid 18th century as it would have been highly unlikely gentlemen and ladies would have dressed in clothing from the sub-Continent, even though some of these materials are extremely expensive. Include in here Shonebares technique(why did he use material?)/Gainsboroughs brushstrokes (how has he managed to achieve such reality in his fabric? There is also something quite unsavoury about decapitated heads with the bodies still looking alive and I find the Shonebares mannequins quite surreal and disturbing having looked at this several times. Why however did Shonebare use headless characters? One of the reasons I expect could well be he wanted the characters to be mysterious but it is more likely that because Gainsboroughs painting is a celebration of deference and by being headless, Shonebare has somehow deflated their status. The eyes of Gainsboroughs Mr Mrs Andrews are staring straight at viewers, inviting them into their world. Expand here. In comparison to her neck, however, Gainsboroughs Mrs Andrews has extremely narrow shoulders which seems out of proportion to the rest of her body, and I wonder if this was naturally so or if it was to underscore that she was the subordinate of the two. Mrs Andrews faint smile indicates decorum although her narrow shoulders and posture reveals a degree of subjugation and possibly domination by her confident, no-nonsense husband. Shonebares Mrs Andrews posture has revealed a more confident looking woman with the shoulders being broader and the fact that the couple looks more equal has automatically transformed Shonebares mannequins into the 21st century. Gainsboroughs painting on the other hand is an anachronism of the past with the man standing next to his belongings: his wife, dog and gun and his land ownership in the background. Expand on Gainsborough here. Althou gh Shonebares installation is inside a building and there is just a plain background, he has managed to conjure up a feeling of a couple being outside of a building and the Rococo style bench could well have assisted in making this possible. When I look at Shonebares piece, I am thinking landed gentry but on looking again, my eyes tells me that there is incongruity as these bright colours would be classified as far too garish for these upwardly mobile folks in the middle of the English countryside. It shows Mrs Andrews in fine silk clothing, sitting on a Rococo style bench, sitting primly, while Mr Andrews is portrayed as a casually dressed gentleman with a dog and a gun, standing proudly before his sprawling land. Expand on both Mr Andrews clothes, figure and posture. I saw Mr Mrs Andrews at the National Gallery in late November 2009 and it is a relatively small oil on canvas, measuring 69.8 x 119.4 cms. It lacked that stiffness and grandeur associated with huge canvasses of that period. The young couple are shown in their Suffolk surroundings and it shows a distinctive style of portraiture, which does convey a degree of spontaneity and casualness, although that is not strictly true as the painting is highly organised. Robert Andrews would have been eager to display his latest agricultural advancement with the mechanical seed drill which was unusual in the mid-18 th century. Expand on Gainsboroughs landscape. Why did Shonebare not have a landscape/background? Why did he chose to have a 3-d installation? Could he have achieved a realistic landscape of that size in post-Modern Britain? Both artists are from completely different backgrounds and eras and to understand these pieces a little better, it is important to look in further details at their lives. Yinka Shonebare MBE was born 234 years later, in London in 1962 to Nigerian parents and lived in Battersea until his parents relocated to Lagos when he was 3. His father, a lawyer, wanted him to also study law but at 17 Shonebare returned to London and at 19 he chose to study art. He received his BA from Byam Shaw (now part of Central St Martins College of Art Design) and his MA from Goldsmith College, London University. A month into his art course he became seriously ill with a rare viral infection which attacked his spine and left him temporarily paralysed. He is now partially paralysed and walks using a stick. While at art school Shonebare was questioned by a lecturer about his choice of subject matter and why was it not more African? This started his journey of using Dutch Wax fabric as an apt metaphor for the entangled relationship between Africa and Europe in his installations. It has proved to be a rich and adaptable material, with the flexibility to be used in his installations, his paintings and in other projects he has undertaken. Shonebare works across the media of painting, sculpture, photography and filmmaking and has won several prizes, shortlisted for the Turner prize in 2004 and has been awarded the commission to make a work for the Trafalgar Square Fourth plinth in 2010. In 2005 he was awarded the MBE an award he has chosen to use as part of his artistic identity and uses this wherever his name is written. Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, in 1727, fifth son of a cloth merchant. Having a keen interest in drawing as a child, at the tender age of 13, he was sent to London to study art in 1740. He was a founding member of the Royal Academy, but unlike his contemporary, Joshua Reynolds, he was never knighted. Gainsboroughs natural preference was always for landscape painting, but it was impossible for an English artist to make a living painting landscapes and so in 1748 he moved back to Suffolk where be became known as a portrait painter. He hated portrait painting and, like Reynolds, this was his main form of income but he felt it bounded him to the wishes of his sitters. .Nothing is worse than gentlemen I do portraits to live and landscapes because I love them, Gainsborough once said to a friend. In another letter to a friend he complained about the pressure of society portraiture, which he described as the cursd Face Business. Gainsborough was one of the most important English artists of his time. He was impressed by the natural rhythm of Dutch landscape paintings and became a dedicated admirer of Van Dyck. The focus of country life as a centre of power and privilege was faithfully reflected in Gainsboroughs art, and in Mr Mrs Andrews the landscape reflected this power and self-esteem. In this painting, his most famous, it shows Robert Andrews, Gainsboroughs childhood friend, with his wife Frances on their estate. They had been married on 10th November 1748 when he was 23 and she was 16 and it is believed that this was painted soon after their marriage. Robert Andrews inherited half of his fathers estate and the other half of the neighbouring pieces of land from his wifes father, William Carter. In Mr Mrs Andrews Gainsborough succeeded in painting both a portrait of the client and of the landscape which is natural and in fact it is possible to relocate the very tree under which the Andrews sat. Unlike the French artificial geometric gardens, he was concerned with freeing painting from any kind of stylisation although Gainsborough sometimes included his own landscape from his imagination.

A New Type of Film Essay -- Filmmaking Media Entertainment Movies Essa

A New Type of Film Every day we are one step closer to filmmaking being as easy as taking out the brush and oils for a painting (Veneruso, 1998). The new technologies that have emerged in films have been the latest in a string of inventions, to help make the film industry better. Films have become an important part of our culutre since they started being made and shown regularly around the world. Although new technology in films may be nothing compared with other technology, it does seem that this technology will benefit a lot of people, and help to improve the quality of the entertainment. These new technologies to the film industry all have important roles in the new industry. Computer generated images, subtitle technology, digital theatre systems, three-dimensnal sound, the colour and black & white technology and the new digital media technology are the main and most infulensal of these technologies for the film industry. First though to see how far films are technologically advancing we need to see have far they have come already, by following the history that is filmmaking. The movie business has been adapting to changing technology for more than 80 years. Prior to the 1930’s, movies were not only without colour, but also had no sound or dialouge (Howell, 2001). The 1920’s started films off in black and white, and most had no sound, as they were difficult to make because of the microphones being unable to move. This lead to films being accompanied by live musicans in the theatre. It become easier to make talking films in the early 1930’s and they become very famous quite quickly. The first full-length colour film was â€Å"Becky Sharp† and it was made in 1935. Once TV hit the scenes in 1950 the film industry had to re... ...ry Movies. Retrieved September 14, 2004, from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june01/movies_tech.html Jardin, Xeni. (2004). MP3 Pioneer Debuts Spatial Sound. Retrieved September 14, 2004, from http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,64353,00.html Microsoft Corporation. (2002). Digital Media Distribution Opportunies for the Film Industry. Retrieved September 14, 2004, from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/content_provider/film/disopwhitepaper.aspx Saenger, Diana. (2004). New Black and White/Color Technology for Stooges DVDs. Retrieved September 14, 2004, from http://classicfilm.about.com/od/dvdnews/a/stoogesnews7210.htm Veneruso, Tara. (1998). A Report from the National Association of Broadcasters Convention Las Vegas, Nevada April 4-9, 1998. Retrieved September 14, 2004, from http://www.nextwavefilms.com/ulbp/cutnab98.html A New Type of Film Essay -- Filmmaking Media Entertainment Movies Essa A New Type of Film Every day we are one step closer to filmmaking being as easy as taking out the brush and oils for a painting (Veneruso, 1998). The new technologies that have emerged in films have been the latest in a string of inventions, to help make the film industry better. Films have become an important part of our culutre since they started being made and shown regularly around the world. Although new technology in films may be nothing compared with other technology, it does seem that this technology will benefit a lot of people, and help to improve the quality of the entertainment. These new technologies to the film industry all have important roles in the new industry. Computer generated images, subtitle technology, digital theatre systems, three-dimensnal sound, the colour and black & white technology and the new digital media technology are the main and most infulensal of these technologies for the film industry. First though to see how far films are technologically advancing we need to see have far they have come already, by following the history that is filmmaking. The movie business has been adapting to changing technology for more than 80 years. Prior to the 1930’s, movies were not only without colour, but also had no sound or dialouge (Howell, 2001). The 1920’s started films off in black and white, and most had no sound, as they were difficult to make because of the microphones being unable to move. This lead to films being accompanied by live musicans in the theatre. It become easier to make talking films in the early 1930’s and they become very famous quite quickly. The first full-length colour film was â€Å"Becky Sharp† and it was made in 1935. Once TV hit the scenes in 1950 the film industry had to re... ...ry Movies. Retrieved September 14, 2004, from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june01/movies_tech.html Jardin, Xeni. (2004). MP3 Pioneer Debuts Spatial Sound. Retrieved September 14, 2004, from http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,64353,00.html Microsoft Corporation. (2002). Digital Media Distribution Opportunies for the Film Industry. Retrieved September 14, 2004, from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/content_provider/film/disopwhitepaper.aspx Saenger, Diana. (2004). New Black and White/Color Technology for Stooges DVDs. Retrieved September 14, 2004, from http://classicfilm.about.com/od/dvdnews/a/stoogesnews7210.htm Veneruso, Tara. (1998). A Report from the National Association of Broadcasters Convention Las Vegas, Nevada April 4-9, 1998. Retrieved September 14, 2004, from http://www.nextwavefilms.com/ulbp/cutnab98.html

Benefits of partnership of a community group

In the recent years we have witnessed a contract known as ‘Community Benefit Agreement’ that was signed in the USA between community groups and company owners which requires the business owners to provide certain services to the local community or the vicinity while on the other hand the community supports the businesses or will not in any way oppose them (Cnaan & Milofsky, 2007). A study reveals that when the community is more involved in the negotiation procedure, they will be able to tackle the problems to present a debate for all parts of an affected community.At the spirit of the community benefits schemes is partnership building. According to the agreement, there are various benefits a community will derive from a business operating in the vicinity. They include; good working conditions, local hiring schemes, affordable housing allowances, better remuneration packages, on job training programs, space will be set aside for other small organizations, community centre s, child care schools, enhance erection of parks and sporting amenities and giving financial support to community group programs.Benefits that a community group may accrue from a company/business through partnership Taking a case in Sydney we find that a recreation field committee of Rankin School of the Narrows in IONA being one of the beneficiaries from the Sydney Tar Ponds Agency through a strategy that was introduced known as Local Economic Benefits (LEB). Sydney Tar Ponds Agency is an agency that deals with stabilizing, solidifying and containing the contaminated materials to clean up the environment and the cleaned up space to be used for recreational purposes.Sydney Tar Ponds Agency, through the LEB program, supports promotes mission contestants and contractors to promote local community activities. LEB involves various operations such as local employment, improvement of local proficiency sets, promoting local community projects and drawing new citizens to join local communit ies. An important section that will be checked out is developing an outdoor rink, a young and adults green activity area which will allow those who have no space to plant at home to have a garden, for the young ones it will provide education on plants and how they grow.As fundraising efforts were underway for the various phases, the committee explored many ways of generating much-needed financial support. Members in the Sydney Tar Ponds Agency have testified that the strategy had helped them develop the outdoor rink that is helping them to give back to the community. This helps the community to grow in positive, healthy directions (Gale Group, 1988). Through the establishment of the outdoor rink for Rankin School of the Narrows in IONA, there will be a lot of motivation in the part of the learners as they will be able to learn extra curriculum activities such as small garden farming.It will also give individuals work to do thus avoiding idleness which could promote immorality amongs t the youths. This will develop the youngsters’ skills and talents that could be of great help to them in future. These small gardens will also add to the country’s aesthetic value thus preserving the splendour of a nation. Conclusion In order to form a triumphant community benefit agreement, it is vital to classify and retain a coalition, facilitate and expertise on a shared agenda, Collins & Porras, 2002).It is therefore important that the government empowers the community on its rights so as to improve the bargaining power of the community. We find that there are organizations which merely do anything for the community because there are no efforts to demand their contribution to the community. On the other hand the community groups should support the operations of the organization to form that mutual relationship that will promote the introduction of other benefits (Demetrios E. Tonias & Jim J.Zhao, 2007). Works Cited Gale Group. International directory of company h istories. (California: St James Press. 1988) Collins James Charles & Porras I. Jerry. Built to last: successful habits of visionary companies. (New York; Harper Business Essentials. 2002). Cnaan A. Ram & Milofsky Carl. Handbook of Community Movements and Local Organizations. (Philadelphia: Springer. 2007 pp 26, 27). Tonias E. Demetrios & Zhao J. Jim. Bridge Engineering. (New York: McGraw-Hill Professional. 2007, p 41).

Due and Owe

Due and Owe Due and Owe Due and Owe By Maeve Maddox Both due and owe have been in the language for a very long time. Due came into English from French in the 15th century. The French word it came from was the Latin verb debitum that gives us the word debt, â€Å"that which is owed.† As a noun, either singular or plural, due can mean â€Å"that which is owing.† One can pay one’s dues literally, as to a club, or figuratively, in the sense of working to get ahead in a profession, as in the headline â€Å"Ricky Gervais and David Chang Have Paid Their Dues.† The expression â€Å"to give a man his due,† means â€Å"to acknowledge a person’s merits, to do justice to a person.† The expression â€Å"to give the Devil his due,† means to give justice to a person for his merits even if he’s otherwise despicable, or if you don’t like him. As an adjective, due means â€Å"payable as a debt.† For example, â€Å"The mortgage payment is due tomorrow.† An expression that has been in the language since Chaucer’s day is â€Å"in due time† in the sense of â€Å"when sufficient time has passed†: â€Å"In due time everyone will know what happened.† Owe, in the sense of â€Å"possess† or â€Å"own† comes from a Germanic source. In some English dialects the word retains the meaning of ownership, but in standard English, the meaning has gone from the sense of â€Å"to possess† to that of â€Å"to be obliged to pay†; â€Å"Don’t forget the twenty dollars you owe me.† A similar word of Germanic origin that does retain the meaning of possession in modern English is own. As a verb, own means â€Å"to possess†: â€Å"He owns the bakery.† As an adjective, it follows a noun or pronoun: â€Å"Alfred’s own son was taken hostage.† As a pronoun, it follows a possessive: â€Å"The boy was given a horse of his own.† No doubt this discussion of due and owe will put some readers in mind of the debate that often arises regarding the proper distinction between the phrases â€Å"due to† and â€Å"owing to.† Refresher: Those who argue for a distinction between â€Å"due to† and â€Å"owing to† insist that â€Å"due to† is an adjective and â€Å"owing to† is adverbial. According to this position, it’s all right to say â€Å"He was late owing to an accident,† because â€Å"owing to an accident† tells why. â€Å"Due to† must be attached to a noun: â€Å"An accident due to carelessness made him late.† As far as general usage is concerned, the debate has become as futile as tussles over ending sentences with prepositions or splitting infinitives. According to the Penguin Writer’s Manual, not even grammarians can give a grammatical reason for insisting on the distinction: Most modern authorities recommend that the rule should be remembered, while acknowledging that its grammatical basis is shaky (there is no reason why â€Å"due to† should not be seen as a compound preposition if â€Å"owing to† is one) and that â€Å"due to† is so frequently used in the sense of â€Å"because of† that many modern dictionaries show it with that sense. The â€Å"due to/owing to† distinction is one of those things that people who feel strongly about it should observe without berating others for ignoring it. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:5 Uses of InfinitivesWhat is the Difference Between Metaphor and Simile?Rite, Write, Right, Wright

Postal and Traditional State Abbreviations Reference Guide

Postal and Traditional State Abbreviations Reference Guide Wondering when to use abbreviations versus the full names when writing about states? As a general rule, the names of states should be spelled out when they appear in sentences  but abbreviated in other contexts. For example: Our family had been  transferred from Endicott, New York, to Raleigh, North Carolina. That was the word used by the people at IBM, transferred.  (David Sedaris, Naked, 1997)Both  men were raised in the Midwest   (Garfield in Ohio, Guiteau in Illinois) by a single, widowed parent.  (Sarah Vowell, Assassination Vacation, 2005) This rule applies also if you are writing something formal and following a style guide, such as the Chicago Manual of Style, MLA Style, American Psychological Association Publication Manual (APA), or Associated Press Style (AP).   When to Use State Abbreviations In bibliographies,  lists, charts where space is at a premium, reference lists, footnotes and endnotes, and in mailing addresses, state names are usually shortened  using the postal abbreviation. This applies to  Chicago Manual of Style  and the American psychological Association Style (APA). The two-letter, no-period state abbreviations recommended by the U.S. Postal Service (See Postal Abbreviations in the chart below.) should always be used where a Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP) code follows. These postal  abbreviations may also be used in any context where abbreviations are appropriate. Some writers and editors still prefer to use the older forms of state abbreviations. (See Traditional Abbreviations in the table below.) If you follow this practice, be consistent in your use of the traditional abbreviations, and remember that eight states (Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, and Utah) are only rarely abbreviated when using the older (pre-ZIP code) forms. Why the ZIP Code Abbreviations Were Developed Before 1963, there were no ZIP  codes used on postal mail in the United States, and the U.S. Post Office preferred that people wrote out state and territory names  completely  to avoid confusion in sorting mail. In the early 1800s, it had established a standardized list of acceptable abbreviations, updating it in 1874. The list remained relatively unchanged until ZIP codes were introduced.   The addition of seven additional characters on a final address line (ZIP code plus two spaces) necessitated the shortening of state abbreviations to fewer characters. The Post Office aimed to fit the final address line into 23 characters to accommodate major addressing systems. U.S. or US for United States Finally, United States may be abbreviated to U.S. when used as an adjective, but in formal writing, its customarily spelled out as a noun. If you are following the Chicago Manual, youll remove the periods to become US except in bibliography or reference entries pertaining to U.S. statutes, court cases, and other legal-context usages, which retain the periods. If youre following APA or AP, you  will keep  the periods there too. MLA prefers to spell out United States as an adjective or a noun in running text. List of State Abbreviations This handy chart has both the postal and the traditional abbreviations, for your reference: STATE POSTAL ABBREVIATION TRADITIONAL ABBREVIATION Alabama AL Ala. Alaska AK Alaska Arizona AZ Ariz. Arkansas AR Ark. California CA Calif. Colorado CO Colo. Connecticut CT Conn. Delaware DE Del. District of Columbia DC D.C. Florida FL Fla. Georgia GA Ga. Hawaii HI Hawaii Idaho ID Idaho Illinois IL Ill. Indiana IN Ind. Iowa IA Iowa Kansas KS Kans. Kentucky KY Ky. Louisiana LA La. Maine ME Maine Maryland MD Md. Massachusetts MA Mass. Michigan MI Mich. Minnesota MN Minn. Mississippi MS Miss. Missouri MO Mo. Montana MT Mont. Nebraska NE Neb. or Nebr. Nevada NV Nev. New Hampshire NH N.H. New Jersey NJ N.J. New Mexico NM N.Mex. New York NY N.Y. North Carolina NC N.C. North Dakota ND N.Dak. Ohio OH Ohio Oklahoma OK Okla. Oregon OR Ore. or Oreg. Pennsylvania PA Pa. Rhode Island RI R.I. South Carolina SC S.C. South Dakota SD S.Dak. Tennessee TN Tenn. Texas TX Tex. or Texas Utah UT Utah Vermont VT Vt. Virginia VA Va. Washington WA Wash. West Virginia WV W.Va. Wisconsin WI Wis. or Wisc. Wyoming WY Wyo.

Follys Antidote Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Follys Antidote - Essay Example t so many questions as to why war seems to have to exist and why an evolved and civilized society aware of the past would ever continue to make such blunders into war. If there are any answers or hope to be found, Schlesinger points to where they may be found, in the awareness of our history and importance of utilizing that awareness for there to be any kind of hope for us. Schlesinger, in his article ‘Folly’s antidote’ has presented historians as persons with limited vision. Historical facts as perceived by them seem to have their own version of history which change when their perception towards things or events change. It is true because history has unlimited mysteries lost in the ruins of the times. Therefore, every historian is able to unearth something new about the past, under the demand of the present. The permutation and combination of the cause and effect of the present, has a tendency to look towards the past for the answers, thus motivating the historians to look at the history from a new angle and decipher the past events leading to the present. It is important to know the history of a nation because it gives them a better understanding of the present and a wider scope to improve their future. The one lesson that history teaches is to remember that nothing remains the same. Change is the key to history and people and place evolve through time to emerge in different forms. The fact has been acknowledged by the late President of America, John F. Kennedy who had said â€Å"We must face the fact that the United States is neither omnipotent or omniscient — that we are only 6 percent of the world’s population; that we cannot impose our will upon the other 94 percent of mankind; that we cannot right every wrong or reverse each adversity; and therefore there cannot be an American solution to every world problem† (Schlesinger). America seems to ignore the calls of the history and has repeatedly committed the folly of waging wars with Vietnam and

Assume that you are a legal officer in the Department of Foreign Dissertation

Assume that you are a legal officer in the Department of Foreign Affairs in your country of nationality (Cyprus). You have been - Dissertation Example However, this announcement might be seen as a mere formality since the League of Nations provisionally recognised Palestine as an independent state as well as the 1922 Mandate for Palestine that awarded Palestine to Great Britain.1 Again in 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 181(11) Future Government of Palestine mandated the division of Palestine into two states: a Jewish and an Arab state. In 1948, the Jewish state was proclaimed as the State of Israel.2 Attempts and progress with respect to the recognition of an Arab Palestinian state however has been turbulent. The 1988 declaration did nothing to change the status quo.3 Palestine has had a difficult time achieving what many feel is its legal right: independent state status. This difficulty surrounds the lack of recognition within the international community, a necessary prerequisite for the effective acquisition of state status.4 A main part of the problem is the Arab League’s opposition to the rec ognition of Israel as an independent state. This has created significant tensions between Israel and Arabs in the region and Palestinians are paying the price. None of this diminishes the legal elements entitling Palestine to state recognition.5 The debate over the appropriate state status of Palestine is for the most part partisan.6 This report takes a wholly non-partisan approach to the issue of the appropriate state status of Palestine and examines the issue from the perspective of the people of Palestine and its territory. In this regard, separate and apart from political consideration, this reports examines the legal elements of statehood under international law as well as the right of self-determination on the part of the people of Palestine under international customary and human rights law. Cyprus knows all too well the struggles that accompany territorial claims and the denial of the right to self-determination having suffered its own division and struggles for an independe nt state in opposition to both Greece and Turkey.7 This report however, does not advocate for recognising the state status of Palestine out of sympathy, but simply because it is the right thing to do under international law and strengthens Palestine’s recognition by one of only a few member states to the EU. In making the case for Cyprus’ recognition of Palestine as an independent state this report will be presented in 5 parts. The first section provides background and historical context relative to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the state status of Palestine. Section 2 examines the Montevideo Convention criteria for statehood in relation to Palestine. Section 3 identifies and analyses the recognition of Palestine as a state within the international community. Section 4 analyses the UN General Assembly Resolution A/67/L.28 which upgrades Palestine’s state status. Section 5 of this report will analyse the right to self-determination under international huma n rights law and its implications for Palestine’s state