Gaza Remains the Story Statement

Curated by the Palestinian Museum
Adapted by Curator, Wafa Ghnaim

If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze—
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself—
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale

“If I Must Die” by Refaat Alareer (1979–2023)

“Gaza Remains the Story” presents the cause and context of the Palestinian experience, centering on the land, cultural heritage, and people of Gaza who have been devastated by war, colonialism, and ongoing ethnic cleansing. This exhibition aims to inform, educate, and bear witness to Gaza’s reality, while offering a glimpse into the arts, aspirations, and enduring spirit of its people amid one of the most harrowing periods in Palestinian history.

According to the United Nations and leading human rights organizations, Israel has committed genocidal acts against the Palestinian people during its ongoing invasion and bombardment of Gaza since October 7, 2023. As relentless airstrikes seek to erase the daily life, artistic expression, and imagination of Gaza, the works on display stand in defiance of that destruction. They serve as a window into the resilience of a people whose creativity refuses to be silenced, and offer a look behind the theater of war and conquest flooding our screens.

While some materials are reproductions from the Palestinian Museum’s collection, this adaptation expands upon the original exhibition, incorporating new research and critical commentary from the Curator, Wafa Ghnaim. Originally developed by the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit, this exhibition was adapted for the Museum of the Palestinian People in Washington, DC. “Gaza Remains the Story” seeks to reclaim some of the inaccessible and intangible aspects of Palestinian cultural heritage—fragments of identity that those in exile struggle to hold onto with each passing day.

“Gaza Remains the Story” raises urgent questions:

How can we access Palestinian arts and culture when they are physically out of reach—destroyed, deemed inaccessible, buried under rubble, or deliberately erased during the ongoing genocide?
How do Palestinians in exile reclaim both tangible and intangible cultural heritage? What is our duty, individually and collectively, beyond bearing witness?
What does it take to build an indestructible archive of sacred, traditional knowledge—one that will serve future generations, independent of social media? That prioritizes Elder wisdom, oral history, and indigenous cultural traditions? One that still honors the power of the digital archive?
Can demolished cultural heritage sites and obliterated material culture be reconstructed through other mediums and formats in the diaspora? What can you do with the skills and supplies you have on-hand?
After viewing this exhibition, what role will you, the viewer, play in supporting Palestinian-led efforts to preserve and restore cultural heritage?

By engaging with these questions, “Gaza Remains the Story” urges audiences to reflect on the power of collective memory as a vital home for oral history and traditions, the ancestors who have safeguarded Palestinian cultural heritage for centuries, the digital archive as a living historical record, and the urgent need for innovative approaches to cultural preservation in the face of near-total erasure. Through it all, Palestinians continue to write a new chapter in human history, one defined by profound, unwavering love and resilience in the face of overwhelming tragedy.

“Gaza Remains the Story” is on view at the Museum of the Palestinian People in Washington, DC from April 11 to November 2, 2025.

Learn more about upcoming events and curatorial updates regarding this exhibition at: https://www.tatreezandtea.com/gaza

Explore the Museum of the Palestinian People’s collections and ongoing research at: https://mpp-dc.org/learn/

Share this exhibit in your space at: https://palmuseum.org/en/GazaRemainsTheStory

If referencing or quoting this essay in your own work, please cite as follows:
Wafa Ghnaim, “‘Gaza Remains the Story’: Adapted Exhibition Statement for the Museum of the Palestinian People,” The Tatreez Institute (blog), April 11, 2025. https://www.tatreezandtea.com/tatreezing/2025/3/grtsstatement

In the News

The National, From conflict to canvas: Gaza stories brought to life in US exhibition, April 12, 2025. [Web]

Artist Directory

The Museum of the Palestinian People’s adaptation of Gaza Remains the Story, curated by the Palestinian Museum, features thirty-three poignant artworks by twenty-eight contemporary Palestinian artists who call Gaza home. These artists span generations and geographies, offering a kaleidoscope of visions and views shaped by memory, exile, resistance, and a rooted love for a homeland under siege. Their works—rendered in oil, acrylic, embroidery, ink, and mixed media—bear witness to personal and collective narratives that refuse obliteration. Each artwork is a vital fragment of what remains, and a gesture toward what endures. Learning about each artist allows us to name Palestinian lives with care, honoring their legacies in the present, and preserving their contributions for the future. Biographies are authored by the curator, Wafa Ghnaim.

A Palestinian visual artist from the ethnically cleansed village of Yibna, Bayan Abu Nahla grew up in the Yibna refugee camp in Rafah, Gaza. After graduating from UNRWA Vocational College with a diploma in graphic design, she joined Banafsaj—a youth art team of the Tamer Institute for Community Education—where she engaged in discussions, drawing, and creative activities. Her ink and watercolor works—often on paper—serve as a form of diary-keeping, processing fleeting thoughts and emotions during a lifetime of war. In 2023, she held her first solo exhibition in Bethlehem and has exhibited both physical and digital works in Palestine and abroad, including at the Sahab Museum and Palestine Museum US.

Mohammed Abu Sitta is a Palestinian artist best known for his oil paintings that explore themes of heritage, resistance, and collective memory. He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Alexandria University in 1979 and went on to work as an art teacher in UNRWA refugee camps across Gaza. His artwork often draws from Palestinian folklore, traditional life, and the struggles of displacement, rendered in rich, evocative brushwork. Over the years, Abu Sitta has participated in numerous exhibitions that reflect his commitment to preserving Palestinian cultural identity through art. He continues to live and work in Gaza, where he remains a respected figure in the local art scene.

Mohamed Abusal is a Palestinian artist whose dynamic practice spans installation, video, photography, and painting, often exploring themes of technology, restriction, and daily life in Gaza. He emerged onto the art scene in 2000 with a bold and prolific body of work that continues to evolve. Largely self-taught and shaped by international workshops, Abusal’s art retains an urgent edge while blending the fantastical with the everyday. His work has been exhibited across Palestine and internationally, including solo shows in France, the US, the UK, Australia, and Dubai. A co-founder of the Eltiqa Group for Contemporary Art, Abusal remains a critical voice in Gaza’s contemporary art landscape.

Abdel Rauf Al Ajouri is a Palestinian artist whose expressionist paintings and contemporary sculptures explore inner emotion and the human condition. He began his artistic career in 1993 and earned a B.A. in Fine Arts from Al-Aqsa University in 2008. Al Ajouri has exhibited widely, with his 2003 solo show Silent Dialogue at the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center in Ramallah and group exhibitions across Palestine, the Arab world, and Europe. He was a founding member of both the Eltiqa Group for Contemporary Art and the Eltiqa Artists’ House Gallery in Gaza, where he currently serves as art coordinator. His work reflects deeply personal and collective fears, particularly those of children and adults living under prolonged conflict.

Maha Al-Daya is a Palestinian artist whose work is rooted in the natural and human landscapes of Gaza. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Al Azhar University and pursued her passion for art through courses at the YMCA in Gaza and the Summer Academy at Darat al-Funun in Jordan under the guidance of Marwan Qassab-Bashi. Her vibrant oil paintings depict scenes of fishing boats, village life, and refugee camps, blending realism with imaginative interpretation. Al-Daya has held solo exhibitions and participated in group shows across Palestine, Jordan, France, Germany, and the United States. A member of the Eltiqa Group for Contemporary Art, she lives and works in Gaza, where nature remains her primary source of inspiration.

Mohammed Al Haj is a young Gazan artist born in Libya to a refugee family originally from the village of Kawkaba. Based in Gaza, he works across multiple styles—ranging from expressive and abstract portraits to pop art and relief sculpture—drawing influence from various artistic schools. He earned his B.A. in Fine Arts from Al-Aqsa University in 2004 and has undergone intensive training in drawing and sculpture. Despite the isolation of Gaza, Al Haj has exhibited his work both locally and internationally, offering a powerful visual response to war, siege, and fragmentation. His artwork reflects Palestinian and Arab identity through bold color, black-and-white graphics, and abstraction, capturing both personal expression and collective struggle.

Mohammed Al Hawajri is a Palestinian artist whose work addresses political and social realities through conceptual art, multimedia, and painting. He studied at the Darat Al Funun Summer Academy in Amman and later received a grant to study at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. His paintings blend expressionism, surrealism, and symbolic realism, often reimagining classical artworks—such as Goya’s The Third of May 1808—to reflect Gaza’s destruction and collective memory. Projects like Cactus Borders and Red Carpet use everyday materials and public space to critique life under siege and the media spectacle of war. A co-founder of the Eltiqa Group for Contemporary Art, Al Hawajri remains a central figure in Gaza’s cultural resistance.

Ruqayya Al-Lulu earned a BA in Painting from An-Najah National University and an MA from Helwan University in Cairo. An educator and founding contributor to arts programs in Gaza, she has taught in public schools and universities. Her paintings show a clear expressionist influence:marked by bold colors and textured brushwork.She draws from contemporary Palestinian life, portraying everything from still lifes, portraits, and flowers, to scenes of resistance. Al-Lulu has exhibited in Palestine, Egypt, and Jordan, and is a member of both the Eltiqa and Shababek Contemporary Art groups in Gaza.

Tayseer Barakat earned a BA in Fine Arts from Egypt’s Alexandria University in 1983. He later moved to Ramallah, where he continues to live and work as a curator, writer, and artist. As an artist, Barakat often explores themes of flight, movement, and escape as well as exploring key themes of identity, displacement, and resilience. He draws inspiration from Palestinian folklore, ancient civilizations, and daily life under occupation. He uses a color palette that is often limited to monochrome tones to express soberness. His work is held in major collections such as the British Museum, the Umm al-Fahm Art Gallery, and the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts.

Maisara Baroud is a Palestinian visual artist and university lecturer at the College of Fine Arts at Al-Aqsa University. He earned a BFA from Al-Najah National University in Nablus and an MFA from the College of Fine Arts in Zamalek, Cairo. Baroud has exhibited widely, participating in group shows across Palestine, the Arab world, Europe, North America, and Asia, and has held six solo exhibitions including Rubble, Salt Boats, and White Phosphorus for the Birth of Elia. His art practice is marked by a stark black-and-white aesthetic and explores themes of war, migration, political imprisonment, and survival, offering a deeply human portrayal of Palestinian suffering. Through expressive technique and emotional intensity, Baroud’s work navigates the tension between grief and hope, violence and freedom.

An artist and art teacher based in Gaza, Rana Batrawi earned a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Al-Aqsa University in 2007. Batrawi exhibited her works in three different exhibitions and facilitated sculpture workshops for children at the A.M. Qattan Foundation centre for children in Gaza. She specializes in sculptures and reliefs inspired by Gaza’s cultural and archaeological heritage. Her ash-based paintings are a reflection of the Palestinian condition. Each time Palestinians are subjected to destruction, displacement, and pressure, they rise with renewed hope and vitality. Her work, marked by bold and colorful brushstrokes, has been exhibited in cities across Palestine, as well as in Turkey and the United States.

Ayman Essa is a Palestinian artist whose work centers on expressive portraits of elegant women, often bathed in mystical blue tones that evoke beauty, introspection, and feminine power. He earned his BA in Fine Arts from Al-Najah National University in 1999 and his MA from University of Helwan in Egypt in 2011, later completing a residency at the International City of Arts in Paris in 2014. Essa has held numerous solo exhibitions, including Mysticism of Blues in Amman, Body in Ramallah, and Dullness at the A.M. Qattan Foundation. His work has also appeared in major group exhibitions across Palestine, the Arab world, Europe, Japan, and the UK, including the Rome Biennale and Imago Mundi’s Mediterranean Routes. Recently displaced from Gaza due to the ongoing genocide, Essa now resides in Egypt, where he continues to create work that channels resilience through beauty.

Fathi Ghaben (1947–2024) was a self-taught Palestinian artist and educator born in the village of Hirbiya in the Gaza Strip. Renowned for his powerful finger-painted works, Ghaben’s art honored Palestinian culture and resistance, often portraying everyday life under occupation. He was the first artist to incorporate the Palestinian flag into his paintings, a bold act that led to his arrest by Israeli occupation forces in 1984 and the confiscation of seven of his works. His art, widely reproduced as posters across Gaza and the West Bank, was viewed by the occupying forces as a form of political incitement. Ghaben passed away on February 25, 2024, after the occupation forces denied him travel for medical treatment.

Fayez Hasany earned a BA in Fine Art from Cairo University. He currently teaches Fine Art in the Education Department at UNRWA and previously taught at the Teachers Institute in Algeria. A founding member of the Plastic Arts Association in Gaza, Hasany has exhibited his work in Algeria, Jordan, and Palestine. Through his art, he visualizes the enduring Palestinian dream to return home. Hasany has created hundreds of paintings centered on Palestinian identity—most produced while living under the constraints of Israel’s illegal military blockade on Gaza.

Moeen Hassouna is a Palestinian visual artist and university professor based in Gaza, known for his powerful mixed media works that explore the depth of human experience. A specialist in fine arts, he held his first solo exhibition, Contrast, at the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center in Ramallah in 2002, and has since participated in major exhibitions, including This Is Not an Exhibition at the Palestinian Museum. Hassouna’s work often employs watercolor and oil paint with smooth shadowing and realistic detail, using repetition of the human form and dark tonal palettes to evoke a sense of gravity and urgency. His piece Tunnel (2009) and My Village (2007) are part of major Palestinian art collections, reflecting themes of memory, confinement, and resilience. In addition to his artistic practice, Hassouna is a dedicated educator, nurturing the next generation of Palestinian artists through university teaching and community engagement.

Raed Issa is a contemporary Palestinian visual artist whose work explores themes of vulnerability, loss, and the grief of living under siege. He holds a diploma in Computer Science from Al-Aqsa University and is the founder of the Fine Art Program of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, as well as a founding member of Gaza’s first contemporary art collective, Eltiqa. His work has been exhibited widely in Palestine, Europe, Japan, the Arab world, Australia, and at Documenta fifteen. During both the 2014 and current wars on Gaza, Issa’s home and studio were destroyed; now displaced and living in a tent with his family, he continues to create and teach using materials like tea, hibiscus, and charcoal, transforming loss into acts of resistance and remembrance.

Khaled Jarada is a Palestinian visual artist and children’s book illustrator whose work spans illustration, animation, video art, and performance. Rooted in expressionism, his art centers on figurative forms, the study of the human body, and its psychological states in response to contemporary social and political conditions. He has illustrated numerous children’s books—including Cane Talk and School Uniform—and participated in exhibitions and residencies across Palestine and Europe. Jarada has completed residencies at the A.M. Qattan Foundation, the Royal Spanish Academy in Rome, La Filleuse in Reims, and the Festival Ciné-Palestine in Paris. A member of the Agency of Artists in Exile since 2021, he continues to develop a multidisciplinary practice that reflects both intimate interior worlds and collective experiences of displacement.

Mohamed Joha is a contemporary Palestinian artist who lives and works between Paris and Marseille. He earned his BA in Art Education from Al-Aqsa University in Gaza in 2003 and later trained at Darat Al-Funun’s Summer Academy in Amman under the renowned Syrian artist Marwan Kassab-Bashi. Joha is known for his distinctive expressionistic collage style, combining painting, drawing, and mixed media with materials like old cloth, paper, and cardboard to create layered, textured compositions. His recent works feature fragmented architectural grids that evoke the destruction and constant rebuilding of Gaza, exploring themes of confinement, resilience, and collective memory. Winner of the 2004 A.M. Qattan Foundation’s Young Artist Award, Joha has since exhibited widely across Europe and the Arab world, gaining recognition for his vivid aesthetic and politically resonant narratives.

Malak Mattar is a Palestinian artist from the Gaza Strip known for her expressionist portraits, dreamlike figures, and semi-abstract designs. She began painting at thirteen during a 51-day military assault on Gaza, using art as a means of emotional survival. Blocked from travel, she shared her work online, quickly gaining international recognition and exhibiting her paintings in galleries around the world. In 2022, she graduated from Istanbul Aydin University with a degree in international politics and continues to use her art as a form of cultural ambassadorship. A reproduction of her work titled 1948 is currently on view in the A Resilient People gallery at the Museum of the Palestinian People.

Born in Damascus, Motaz Naim earned a BA from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Damascus University in 1997. His paintings, blending abstraction and expressionism, draw from Palestinian memory and nature. Now displaced in Egypt and teaching at Khan Younis College, Naim’s work has shifted dramatically in response to the devastation of war. Many of his landscape paintings have been destroyed, and his experience of genocide has profoundly reshaped his visual language—transforming his paintings from beautiful and colorful, to dark and catastrophic.

A gifted visual artist and muralist from Gaza City, Sami dedicated his life to nurturing creativity in his community. As a longtime volunteer with the Tamer Institute for Community Education, he played a leading role in their art studio—facilitating workshops, supporting youth expression, and using art as a means of resilience and connection. His work, deeply rooted in Palestinian identity, memory, and struggle, often featured bold imagery and poignant symbolism. On October 17, 2023, Sami was killed when an Israeli missile struck Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, where he was sheltering and assisting others.

Shareef Sarhan is a multidisciplinary Palestinian artist, photographer, and designer based in Gaza, whose work spans drawing, installation, digital photography, and video art. He began his formal training in fine arts at the YMCA in Gaza and later earned a diploma in arts from the University of ICS in the United States. Sarhan deepened his artistic practice through intensive workshops, including studies at the September Dara Academy of Jordanian Arts under the mentorship of Syrian-German artist Marwan Kassab Bashi, whose influence introduced him to modern art’s everyday relevance. Sarhan’s work has been widely exhibited in Palestine—in Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem—as well as internationally in Amman, Paris, London, the United States, Italy, the UAE, and Cairo. A founding member of the Windows from Gaza for Contemporary Art collective, Sarhan continues to explore themes of place, memory, and survival through conceptual and public art.

Ismail Shammout was a pioneering modernist painter and art historian whose work became foundational to the visual language of Palestinian identity. After being expelled during the Nakba in 1948, he and his family took refuge in Khan Younis, Gaza, where his experiences of displacement deeply shaped his art. He studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Cairo and later in Rome, blending classical training with a distinct style rooted in Palestinian struggle, heritage, and resistance. Shammout’s expressive compositions, often depicting collective memory and national resilience, have influenced generations of artists across the Arab world. A reproduction of his iconic painting Salute to Beit Sahour is currently on view in the Nakba gallery at the Museum of the Palestinian People.

Laila Shawa was a pioneering Palestinian visual artist from Gaza City whose work boldly confronted the political realities of Palestine, with a focus on themes of identity, gender, occupation, and resistance. She studied fine arts in Cairo, Rome, and Salzburg, where she trained under Austrian expressionist Oskar Kokoschka, an influence that shaped her expressive and symbolically charged style. Shawa became internationally recognized for her multimedia works that blended traditional motifs with contemporary techniques, often incorporating photography, silkscreen, and installation. Her art has been exhibited widely across Europe, the Arab world, and the United States, and is part of major collections including the British Museum and the Barjeel Art Foundation. A trailblazer in the Arab art world, Shawa received numerous accolades throughout her life and remained a fierce artistic voice until her passing on October 24, 2022.

Sinwar is a Palestinian painter who fled from Al-Majdal to the southern part of Gaza during the Nakba in 1948. He earned a BA in Fine Arts with a focus on oil painting from Cairo in 1965 and spent over a decade teaching art in Gaza’s secondary schools. From 1977 to 2002, he worked in the UAE as Chief Painter at the Teachers Training Center and later at the Ministry of Education and Youth’s Center for Curriculum Development. A key figure in the region’s cultural scene, he helped establish the Emirates’ Fine Arts Society and led the Palestinian Artists’ Union branch in the UAE. Since retiring and returning to Gaza, he has devoted himself fully to his art, with works held in both private and public collections and featured in numerous local and international exhibitions.

An acrylic artist, Zaqout graduated from Gaza Training College in 2003 and Al-Aqsa University in 2007, specializing in graphic design and fine arts. A devoted public school teacher, she participated in numerous exhibitions and held a solo show in 2021 titled My Children in Quarantine. “My paintings are full of Palestinian houses, minarets, domes, and churches,” she once said, “to emphasize the Palestinian identity and Palestinian existence.” In October 2023, Zaqout was killed by Israel alongside her two sons. All of her paintings were destroyed in the same attack.

Hani Zurob is a contemporary Palestinian artist based in Paris since 2006, with a BFA from Al-Najah University in Nablus. His conceptual and narrative-driven practice spans painting, mixed media, and installation, often blending figurative forms with abstraction to explore themes of identity, exile, memory, and displacement. Zurob allows the concept to guide his choice of medium, using materials both literally and metaphorically to convey emotional and political depth. His work is held in major international collections, including the British Museum, Institut du Monde Arabe, and the Barjeel and Dalloul Art Foundations. In 2013, he was named one of ten “international artists to watch” by The Huffington Post, and his work is the subject of the monograph Between Exits by Kamal Boullata.

Gaza Remains the Story Statement

Curated by the Palestinian Museum Adapted by Curator, Wafa Ghnaim

In the News

Artist Directory

Abu Ghanima, Nabil (Born 1984; Gaza)

Abu Nahla, Bayan (Born 2001; Yibna)

Abu Sitta, Mohammed (Born 1954; Khan Younis)

Abusal, Mohamed (Born 1976; Gaza)

Al Ajouri, Abdel Raouf (Born 1977; Jabalia Refugee Camp, Gaza)

Al Daya, Maha (Born 1976; Gaza)

Al Haj, Mohammed (Born 1982; Libya)

Al Hawajri, Mohammed (Born 1976; Bureij Refugee Camp, Gaza)

Al Lulu, Ruqayya (Born 1975; Gaza)

Barakat, Tayseer (Born 1959; Jabaliya Refugee Camp, Gaza)

Baroud, Maisara (Born 1976; Gaza)

Batrawi, Rana (Born 1983; Gaza)

Essa, Ayman (Born 1974; Gaza City)

Ghaben, Fathi (1947-2024)

Hasany, Fayez (Born 1952; Gaza)

Hassouna, Moeen (Gaza)

Issa, Raed (Born 1965; Al Bureij Camp, Gaza)

Jarada, Khaled (Born 1996; Gaza)

Joha, Mohammed (Born 1978; Gaza)

Mattar, Malak (Born 1999; Gaza)

Naim, Motaz (Born 1973; Damascus)

Sami Qariqa, Mohammed (1984-2023; Gaza City)

Sarhan, Shareef (Born 1976; Gaza)

Shammout, Ismail (1930–2006; Lydda)

Shawa, Laila (1940–2022; Gaza City)

Sinwar, Bashir (Born 1942; Al Majdal)

Zaqout, Heba (1984–2023; Gaza)

Zurob, Hani (Born 1976; Rafah Camp, Gaza)

Curated by the Palestinian Museum
Adapted by Curator, Wafa Ghnaim