Pictured, top left, textile piece, by Imy
“They can fell the olive trees, but the roots will still be there.”
Pictured, bottom left, digital and fine liner piece, by Ziggy
“Through the use of mix media (fine liner, digital medium) I wanted to explore the liminal space of queer existence not only within the material reality of occupation and colonisation but also in relation to a heterosexist environment. The piece questions and explores loss in both a physical as well as an abstract sense - loss of possibility, identity, etc., and the grief which accompanies this prominent queer experience. Fadwa Tuqan’s poem is a reminder of hope, perhaps hope in community, which is found within this liminality and the catharsis it provides for many queer Palestinians.”
“This is a gold leaf painting of a feather I carry with me everywhere I go. I carry it because it makes me think about the bird who is flying somewhere in the world, and somehow that gives me hope for our world. So, this painting is a reminder to hold onto hope - it’s usually in the smallest things, carry a little bit of it everywhere you go in this world and in everything you do, and maybe someone will carry this feather with them too.”
Pictured, top middle, by Cathrine
Pictured, bottom middle and top right, two prints, by Richard
“Sadeel Al-Azzeh, aged 12, “All children love to fly kites, but Palestinian children live under Occupation and siege, and when we make a kite from our flag and fly it in the sky, we feel we have given the flag its freedom. Freedom is the most valuable thing in life.”
As well as making prints about the Palestinian experience under Occupation, I took the kite on an imagined journey above the sniper towers and apartheid walls of the Israeli state, flying eventually through darkened skies and storms clouds to arrive in New York, at the statue of liberty and the United Nations building.”
Pictured, bottom right, paint, and wood burn piece, by Erini
“My piece depicts a Levantine Mountain gazelle, framed by the colors of the Palestinian flag. The mountain gazelle is one of the official animals of Palestine and it reflects the Palestinian people's spirit, resilient and strong, a celebration of their fight for freedom and endurance against the Israeli government's tyranny and genocide.”