- Title: UK-GAZA ARTIST Gazan artist remembers children killed in last year's 50-day war
- Date: 9th August 2015
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 6, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ARTIST, MAJDAL NATEEL'S ARTWORK ON DISPLAY SIGN ON WALL WITH EXHIBITION INFORMATION MORE OF EXHIBITION INFORMATION ON WALL (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) YAHYA ZALOOM, DIRECTOR P21 GALLERY, SAYING: ''The situation in Palestine especially and Gaza specifically is a very difficult situation for the artist, to leave
- Embargoed: 24th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Gaza
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA9S2SETH2O11WUWKAO3W1JT380
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The work of Palestinian artist, Majdal Nateel, takes up an entire wall in a London gallery.
The 29-year old's drawings represent the lost dreams of children, and the experiences they'll never have.
The images drawn on cement bags represent aspirations of the children killed in last summer's conflict between Hamas and Israel.
Israeli air strikes and shelling hammered the densely populated Gaza Strip, dominated by the Islamist Hamas movement, causing widespread destruction of homes, schools and other buildings.
Hamas and other militant groups launched thousands of rockets and mortar bombs from the Palestinian enclave into Israel.
Some 551 children were killed in Gaza and 3,436 were injured during the conflict, while an estimated 1,500 lost their parents, according to a report by children's charity Save the Children.
Yahya Zaloom, is the Director of the P21 Gallery, he says it's part of their mission to showcase Palestinians away from politics, exposing Palestinian art and culture. But putting on a show like this, isn't as straight forward as it seems, as Zaloom explains.
''The situation in Palestine especially and Gaza specifically is a very difficult situation for the artist, to leave and leave his work, or to send his work, and not just to send the work. But also how to return the work to Gaza or to Palestine, because a lot of the times, the work can get lost, or be damaged in transit, so we always try to find a specific way to get the work from Gaza or Palestine,'' he said.
According to Zaloom, with the help of British based journalist, Jon Snow, Nateel's work was able to be shown at the gallery.
'For example with Majdal's work, he went, a journalist from Channel 4 News in London, he went and met with Majdal and they spoke of this work and she told him that she wants to show it in London, and he asked her ''how are you going to send this work?'' and she said ''I don't know, we're still trying to find away'' so he suggested to bring the work for her to London, so that we can showcase it here, and this really was a very kind gesture from Jon, to do this,'' Zaloom said.
But the artist Majdal Nateel - won't be able to attend her show - she's tired six times to get a permit from the Israeli authorities to leave Gaza - each attempt unsuccessful.
"I feel that there is an achievement. I feel that that I reached a goal that I had and I am very happy that I achieved this goal. But I always feel, and it is not the first time maybe, more than once, that when my art pieces go out and I'm still here in Gaza that I wish I was the one that built the gallery together, because the gallery itself is based on installation. I was hoping to be there during the set up of the gallery,'' said Nateel in Gaza.
Nateel is a graduate in Fine Arts from the Al-Aqsa University. The mother of two's artwork has been exhibited in Gaza, Jordan and Europe.
Her recent work was inspired by her experiences working with children in UN bomb shelters during the fighting last year.
Nateel's work is on show at the P21 Gallery alongside a number of other Palestinian artists including Gaza on Gaze, a collective of artists and creative who work together to raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as well as providing a platform for artists from the coastal enclave.
The exhibition runs till August 22. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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