Children’s art exhibition from Gaza

They started the war to destroy our hopes, but we won’t let that happen: Children’s art exhibition from Gaza
This exhibition, organized by the art department of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on November 29, highlights artwork by children and young people from Gaza, Palestine.
Ibraheem Mohana came of age in the midst of Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people. A student of Gazan artist Mohammed Sami – who died on October 17, 2023 in an Israeli attack – Ibraheem began to follow his teacher’s path and teach art classes to children in his neighborhood in northern Gaza. For Ibraheem, “Art is our way of speaking when words don’t come easily. With a pen, a piece of paper, or even an empty food can, I show the children of Gaza that art is everywhere. It is a way of telling our stories, of letting out what we feel inside.”

This exhibition brings together artworks made by twenty children in Gaza over the past year, recovering some beauty, humanity and resilience from the rubble of a genocidal war. It also includes five original works by Ibraheem Mohana created between 2022 and 2024. For him, teaching art in a “fun and entertaining way” allows children to “understand art a little and feel proud of themselves.” Children in Gaza, after all, are still children.
So far, more than 44,000 Palestinians – including 10,000 children – have been killed by Israeli forces, supported by the United States and other nations of the Global North. These children’s artworks are the seeds of a future for Palestine; together they affirm: from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.