'Life in the midst of death' Palestinian artists seek help to display work in 'biennale'

Palestinian artists in Gaza plan to stage a "biennale" exhibition as an act of defiance against Israel's military onslaught and to focus attention on the plight of the territory's 2.3 million people after more than 13 months of bombardment.

- Malak A Tantesh, Gaza Julian

About 50 artists from Gaza will exhibit their work within the besieged coastal strip, and are looking for art galleries to host exhibitions overseas. But in order to hold their work to the eyes of the rest of the world, the artists are facing a unique challenge: how to get their art across Israeli siege lines.

About a quarter of the exhibiting artists managed to cross into Egypt earlier in the war. Of those left behind, some will try to send artworks out of Gaza with aid workers who are sporadically allowed to cross the lines; others will send material electronically in the form of pictures and video, while a few will partner with artists in the West Bank to reconstitute their art remotely.

Tasneem Shatat, a 26-year-old from Khan Younis who helped come up with the idea and is a driving force behind the initiative, explained why the artists chose to emulate Venice and other major world cities in calling the proposed show a biennale.

"The biggest artistic events in the world are called biennales, hosting the world's most important artists to address the most important things in the world through their art. For us, the most important artists in the world now are the artists of Gaza," Shatat said.

The name is also a statement of intent that the biennale will be a recurring event and that Gaza and artists will still be standing in two years' time.

The idea is intended as an artistic proof of life in the face of an attempt to strip Gaza's Palestinians of their humanity.