People look at paintings by Palestinian artists during an exhibition in Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip Tuesday, April 28. AP-Yonhap
BUREIJ, Gaza Strip — Young Palestinian artists in Gaza staged an impromptu exhibit on Tuesday, seeking another way to show the world what has happened during the war and the fragile ceasefire .
The row of paintings, like much of Gaza life itself, was displayed outdoors, open to the weather and curious stares. There was a painting of a dove, a bullet hole, a person’s silhouette in a territory where the war between Israel and the militant Hamas group has killed well over 70,000 people.
It was a sunny day in Bureij in central Gaza. Children shouted and played as admirers of the paintings took photos and reflected.
“They painted their feelings, their ambitions, their hopes, their visions, over four months during a continuous workshop in my studio,” said Ghanem Al-Din, who organized the exhibit of dozens of paintings.
One artist was displaced seven times
Obay Al-Qarshali, 21, was one of the artists. He said he fled his home in Gaza City in late 2023 after the war began, sparked by the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. He took only what he could in his hurry, leaving over 30 of his paintings behind.
They are now lost in the bombing and destruction, he said.
His painting on display showed broken glass, cars topped with mattresses and other belongings and the debris of buildings. All are too familiar for him and hundreds of thousands of fellow Palestinians who have been displaced, often more than once.
Al-Qarshali said he had changed locations at least seven times in the war.
Source: Korea Times News
