"Two years on from the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas in Israel and the Israeli military offensive that followed, scores of Palestinian cultural figures have been killed and much of the territory's cultural and historic heritage has been destroyed. But scattered across Gaza and beyond, many artists remain committed to sustaining their practice as an expression of memory and resilience."
"Dena Mattar, an established Palestinian artist and co-founder of the Eltiqa Group for Contemporary Art, had to cancel a scheduled online interview with The Art Newspaper. Days earlier, her uncle had been shot by Israeli forces outside of a hospital in Deir Al Balah and later died of his wounds. With her uncle's wife outside Gaza and unable to return, his four children remain alone, a situation that has deeply affected Mattar."
"The couple and their four children left Gaza in April 2024 after six months of displacement, the destruction of their home and close brushes with death that included being trapped under rubble after an Israeli bombardment that killed several of their relatives. Rebuilding their lives has not been easy. "It's a very heavy time," Al-Hawajri says, noting that some of his relatives back in Gaza tell him they wish for death to escape their situation."
Scores of Palestinian cultural figures have been killed and much of Gaza's cultural and historic heritage has been destroyed since the 7 October 2023 attack and the subsequent military offensive. Many artists remain dispersed across Gaza and abroad but persist in making work that embodies memory and resilience. Personal losses and trauma shape daily life for displaced families, with reports of relatives killed, wounded, and suffering severe hardship. Some artists continue to exhibit internationally while questioning the value of art amid devastation. Rebuilding lives and sustaining Gaza's artistic life face profound emotional and practical obstacles.
Read at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events
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