- Title: USA: Israeli and Palestinian artists use art to explore Mideast peace
- Date: 11th October 2007
- Summary: VARIOUS OF BOWLS GIDEON GECHTMAN'S BOWL CRACKED IN HALF AND PLACED IN RED AND BLUE BINS DALIA REIZEL'S CERAMIC BOWL VARIOUS OF BOWLS ALI ABU-AWWAD TALKING TO EXHIBIT GOERS
- Embargoed: 26th October 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
- Reuters ID: LVAA3YAX0DL6RORFCZZ4OAM9GPQK
- Story Text: "Offering Reconciliation," an art exhibit showcasing ceramic bowls designed by Israeli and Palestinian artists, goes on display at New York's Pomegranate gallery.
"Offering Reconciliation" an art exhibit showcasing Israeli and Palestinian artists' interpretations of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is on display at the Pomegranate gallery in New York.
The exhibit was created by 135 artists of different religions, with the idea of looking at peace and reconciliation through art. The show was developed by the Parents Circle-Families Forum, a group of about 500 Palestinian and Israeli families who have lost loved ones to the violent conflict and are committed to promoting dialogue and reconciliation.
Curator Orna Tamir-Schestowitz says she chose a bowl to bring cohesiveness to the exhibit, since bowls are used to make an offering -- and the exhibit's mission is to offer peace as an alternative to violence.
"There are many similarities in the works and many differences.
Many saw the subject's fragility, that the situation could become explosive at any moment. On the other hand, even when things do fall apart, you can glue them back together. The question is whether or not it will stick and how close we are able to bring the hearts of the peoples," Tamir-Schestowirz said.
Works were contributed by various artists, including Israel's First Lady Aliza Olmert, whose bowl sits near the bowl of Palestinian born artist Osama Zatar. Olmert's bowl sends a simple but clear message, "Jews do not deport Arabs, who do not deport Jews, who do not deport Arabs." The spiraling text of her work is juxtaposed to Zatar's image of a tree that is nurtured with blood rather than water. Zatar is married to an Israeli woman, and the two live in Germany because they cannot live in Israel or Palestine.
Robi Damelin and Ali Abu Awwad, two members of the Forum of Bereaved Families, are traveling with the works, which will eventually be auctioned to raise money for the forum's other projects.
Damelin's son, an IDF reservist, was shot and killed by a sniper, while Abu Awwad's brother was killed in the Intifada. Both are working hard to make the exhibit a success and share stories of hope.
The two were featured in "Encounter Point," a documentary exploring peace in the Mideast that debuted at New York's Tribeca Film Festival in 2006.
"When I was being filmed I never imagined that I would end up in the United Nations with Robi Damelin, this Israeli woman who lost her son to the conflict, speaking to a global audience, because it is difficult for people to listen, because people have their personal problems and their external political ones as well," Abu Awwad said.
Of their mission to help bring about peace, Damelin said: "I know that a miracle happened in South Africa, not that it's the garden of Eden today, but just think about what it could still be like today if there wasn't reconciliation movement. Therefore, I feel that I am obligated to continue everything I am doing, it brings hope. It's so rare, going around with a Palestinian and the two of us speaking in one voice, it is amazing."
The bowls will be auctioned by SOFA in Chicago on November 2nd, with bids starting at 1,500 USD each. Proceeds will go to the Parents Circle-Families Forum education programmes .
The exhibit also was shown this year in Israel, Washington, D.C. and the United Nations General Assembly. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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