Colours of Hope

Presents works by 26 artists from Gaza

Bab idDeir Art Gallery, Bethlehem

24 June – 01 August 2021

Colours of Hope presents artworks by 26 artists from the Gaza Strip, in line with UNDP’s tradition of hosting an annual exhibition and art auction. This year, the exhibition is the result of a collaborative partnership between the General Union of Cultural Centres in Gaza, Shababek for Contemporary Art, Bab idDeir Art Gallery, and UNDP’s Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian people. It features paintings and sculptures that are the culmination of workshops implemented by Shababek for Contemporary Art with support from UNDP over a period of three weeks.

As one of the leading art initiatives in Gaza, Shababek gathered artists from different generations and backgrounds to enhance the role of younger generation artists in the Gazan art scene. These workshops presented an opportunity for young participants to network and exchange experiences with many Arab, international, and Palestinian artists, writers, and photographers.

Three weeks of individual and collective sessions soon enough formed a platform that allowed participants to improve practical skills and lead to fruitful discussions on topics that ranged from dialogues on contemporary art to the role artists play in communities. The space it provided allowed young artists, who are in the pursuit of finding and expressing their own artistic path in life, to expand their horizons. The collaborative effort built cultural bridges and symbolically mended the rift that exists as a result of the harsh realities on the ground, breaking these artists’ isolation on canvas and through colours.

The exhibited collection of abstract, figurative, and realistic paintings challenges reality and opens up a window where new images of Gaza as a colourful and inspiring place can be created and conceived. Gaza could be a future dream; a place where there is freedom, peace, and a homeland; a space that could invite artists to paint without restrictions the sea of Gaza, the sky over Ramallah, the mountains of Nablus, the gates of Jerusalem, the Nativity of Bethlehem, the snow of Hebron, the oranges of Haifa, the port of Acre, and the Negev desert.