“Within this genocide I am trying to bring back pieces, shrapnel and splinters to become a one complete image”

Artists: Basel El Maqosui (Bottom of Image)

born in Gaza in 1971, is a visual    artist and free-lance photographer. He attended the Arts Program- Gaza in 1995 and was taught by the artist Marwan Kassab Bachi. In 2003 he was awarded the Charles Asprey Award for Palestinian artists after being nominated by A.M Qattan Foundation. He also received an artist residency in Bangalore – India. Makwasi presented his works in 10 solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions. Winner of the bronze price for the best photo from the Union of Arab photographers, Germany. He also won the Oscar of Nile Culture biennale in Cairo in 2009. In addition to attending an artist residency in Algeria after being nominated by the UNESCO in 2013 and another residency in Connecticut State in the US in 2016. He worked as an art teacher and is a founding member of the collective Shababeek for Contemporary Art, Gaza.

Artist Bio: Sharif Sarhan

Shareef Sarhan (b. 1976) is a Palestinian artist, professional photographer, and freelance designer. He started his career in 1995 after graduating from YMCA, Gaza city, Palestine with a degree in Fine Arts.

His perspective toward the world changed after studying arts as he constantly searched for beauty and ways to express his love for nature and humanity through arts. He got introduced to modern art and its relevance to daily life after meeting Syrian artist Marwan Qasab Bashi at the Summer Arts Academy in Amman. After this fortuitous meeting with Bashi, Sarhan’s work began to change gradually and clearly. His work and projects varied between drawing, installation, digital photography, and event video.

Sarhan was deeply affected by the siege imposed on Gaza City in 2007. He gained a maturity that became evident in terms of the means he used to communicate the Gaza reality to the outside world. He introduced the international community to this small piece of 360 square kilometres of land housing 2 million people through a project titled as Gaza Living. It is a book of photographs capturing life in Gaza and how it has been distorted and disfigured by years of siege. In 2015, his project 'War Game' reflected the Gazan experience during the 51 days of the war by using children’s games to express how the war affected children.

In 2016, Sarhan worked on Gaza Lighthouse, the first synthetic work in public space which was a new venture for Sarhan, and also in Palestinian art. This work relied on reusing the environment and war remnants in building the first lighthouse for Gaza but with a new concept and materials. The project resonated with the people of Gaza, whose powerful positive reaction proved the success of Sarhan’s desire to transfer art from the showroom to the street.

Sharif Sarhan Personal Statement:

I  believe that art and creativity play a big role in life. It is possible to change for the better through art that is produced for love, freedom and security.

And the wall of steadfastness is a form of expression of life and steadfastness.

Collective Statement:

These are neither paintings nor artworks that we create for collectors or art enthusiasts to acquire or view. These are pieces of our bodies scattered with the shrapnel at every moment of bombardment, accompanied by the most disturbing sounds, emerging from the mouths of cannons and the missiles falling from the sky onto our homes, causing our bodies to scatter along with them. They are our screams that emerge and hurt our throats. They are made of coal, ink, and colors shaped by our blood. They are the smiles of our children that vanished along with their schools in a time that is neither theirs. They are love, lived, at a time of war. And I am certain that love dispels fear. 

I do not paint a picture of war—journalists can capture that with their cameras. My paintings are a longing for a kiss and an embrace. They are light that fills our hearts. They are a testament to genocide. They are our concerns during displacement and the anxiety of moving it from one place to another, and the fear of it, as if it were a family member. 

Will we survive to present this work and witness you contemplate it? If I am among you then I am brave, and if I am not, then I am a martyr in my last art residency."       


Basel El Maqosui Personal Statement:

Shrapnel - Splinters 

‏Shrapnel all the way, splinters all the time, not only those shrapnel cutting people in pieces, not only those splinters cutting buildings in half. People themselves are splintering, life it self is splintering, nothing complete, nothing perfect, everything splintered. The human beings, the buildings, the streets, the trees, the tents, the human right. Life itself became shrapnel, splinters and pieces. Who is going to collect back to one standing piece a child lost his parents, a man lost his beloved wife, a mother lost her baby, or a worker whose source of livelihood was lost, or a patient who lost his hospital, or a factory owner whose factory was destroyed, or the owner of a house he built with years of sweat saw his house in ruins.

‏All of my life as a Palestinian, as an artist did my best to draw complete images. Today, within this genocide I am trying to bring back pieces, shrapnel and splinters to become a one complete image, would I succeed?

  • “Within this genocide I am trying to bring back pieces, shrapnel and splinters to become a one complete image”