PROJECT

 

Art Under Siege

ART, MUSIC, WORDS

FROM INSIDE THE SIEGE OF GAZA TO THE WORLD OUTSIDE

A MULTIMEDIA, MULTICULTURAL EXPERIENCE

 

OXO TOWER COURTYARD, SOUTH BANK, LONDON

 

Exhibition Dates: 18th – 28th August 2017, 10:00 -21:00

 

Curated by: Maurice Jacobsen

 

Artists: Maysa Yousef, Malak Mattar, Basel El Maqusi, Laila Kassab and Ayman Mghamis

 

WE ALL LIVE IN GAZA

P21 Gallery is proud to present Art Under Siege, from inside the blockade of Gaza to the OXO Tower Courtyard, Art Under Siege tells the story of Gaza artists, writers and performers caught in a conflict not of their making, today living in limbo with an unknown future.  It is a story told with original artworks, words, photography, and video, all merged into an architectur-ally self-contained installation designed to involve viewers, physically, intellectually and emotionally, bringing them immediately into the story.

 

WHY THIS PROJECT 

In Gaza the walls tell no lies. As one walks the streets there is a barrage of imag-es. These tell a contemporary history. A history that is fragile and tenuous.

For artists creating in their bedrooms, tiny studios and on the canvases of walls and rubble, their visions reflect a transient moment in history. The work speaks as eloquently as any news report, essay or academic journal. Yet it only exists for the blink of an eye in a historical timeline.

The artwork is being created for historical documentation, as a cry for recognition, as an escape for the creator from the conditions they find themselves, and in-deed, for their emotional survival; the need to feed the creative beast that lives within the body and mind of all those with a passionate need to communicate. 

 

THE INSTALLATION 

Specifically, for the OXO Courtyard, visitors will find eight individual architectural structures. Here visitors will be able to find the work of individual artists along with a videos documenting the conditions under which the work was created.  Over the course of the ten day installation there will be live two-way discussions where questions can be asked directly to the artists who were not able to leave Gaza, the result of the territory’s closure.

 

Press Information

For further exhibition information, press images and interview opportunities contact the gallery: info@p21.org.uk, or Maurice Jacobsen, Email: maurice.jacobsen@gmx.co.uk, Tel. +44 770 461 4070

 

 

In collaboration with: The Inshallah Media, Gaza City;  The Media Group, Gaza City; Rebuilding Alliance, USA and WeAreNotNumbers.org, Gaza