Loading ...Bombers, Blood, and Teddy Bears: Posters from the 2014 War on Gaza
The spirits of the more than 2,000 Palestinians who were killed in Israel’s 50-day military operation against Gaza last summer have been immortalized in the posters that have emerged from the conflict. The online Palestine Poster Project Archives contains more than 175 posters on Gaza published in the past year. “Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it,” in the words of Berthold Brecht. Ten internationally representative posters created in response to last summer’s attacks, discussed below, demonstrate the power with which artists wield their tools to record history, influence the discourse, and effect action.
Hassona is a prolific young artist from Gaza whose work has been exhibited internationally; he also displays his posters via his website, Taste of Freedom: Posters of Gaza. In this work, Hassona depicts Israeli bombs that drop through vaporous clouds and land intact, seemingly without effect. The children are not annihilated by the bombs; rather, they transform into pinwheels that rise up tall from “GAZA.” The sky may be black, but the sun is breaking through, and birds—symbolizing the dispossessed—are returning home.
Source: www.globalresearch.ca