In October Palestinian artist Iyad Sabbah installed a sculpture, Worn Out, in a Gaza neighborhood which was destroyed during this summer’s war between Israel and Palestine.
Iyad Sabbah, Worn Out, 2014, clay sculpture
The seven clay figures, which appear eroded and flecked with crimson, depict children, adults and elderly men and women walking away from the destroyed neighborhood of Shuja’iyya, toward the beach. The artist told the Cairo Post that the sculpture comemorates both the victims in the 51-day conflict and the struggles of families who illegally immigrate to get away from the war. The artist states:
“Shuja’iyya neighborhood is one of the places that was completely destroyed, and the idea came to my head to do something about the war, to focus on displacement of the Palestinians,” Palestinian artist Iyad Sabbah, a member of the Fine Artists Association in Gaza, told The Cairo Post Wednesday.”
Sabbah, who himself had to leave his home in Gaza, self-financed the work. He described the sculpture as Tahalok (decaying) to show the suffering that he and other residents felt after the war. The Post quotes the figures from the Palestinian Health Ministry, which state that at least 2,145 Palestinian civilians were killed and 11,200 injured in the latest round of fighting.
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Iyad Sabbah, Worn Out, 2014, clay sculpture
These are marvelous sculptures. They capture the pain and misery of the Palestinians in the depiction of one worn out family. Beautiful and moving.
La #Palestine après un demi siècle d’indifférence, d’hypocrisie et de complicité de la part du monde dit civilisé.
Ces sculptures d’argile à Gaza sont bouleversantes d’authenticité et de présence..merci iyad Sabbah d’avoir su vous laisser traverser par la puissance et le souffle de la créativité du verbe..
Profound
hope these sculpures will find a compatible home where they can be seen by hundreds of people.
I think they are where they belong. They are not separate from their surroundings.
Some of the most moving sculptures I have seen in my lifetime.
I am an artist and I totally respect this artist’s work as it stands, however, it doesn’t tell the whole story. It’s sad that the Palestinians don’t push their government to simply state that Israel has the right to exist. As long as it is committed to annihilating Israel, there will never be peace. Launching rockets at Israeli citizens and building terror tunnels has forced Israels hand to protect itself and the lives of her citizens. There will always be tragic consequences to terrorism. Furthermore, where are the Palestinians’ Arab neighbors? It’s very telling how all of the surrounding Arab countries sit idly by without aiding there fellow Arabs. Why is this acceptable?
Art is not meant to tell the “whole story”. Art is meant to open peoples eyes/brains/hearts to ideas and experiences, it is about sharing perspectives and perceptions. To react to this work by spouting the pro-zionist propaganda that US citizens are consistently fed, using catch words like “terrorist”, and purporting that Israelis are defending themselves while engaged in genocide of the Palestinian people is ridiculous.
The most moving pieces of art against prolonged warfare that I have ever seen.