"Our Works Stand Side by Side": Art Bridging Gaza and the West Bank

Young Palestinian artists in Gaza and the occupied West Bank bring their works together in simultaneous exhibitions.

BETHLEHEM, Occupied West Bank - Artists arrived with family and friends at the Bethlehem Peace Center, where a live feed connected them to a small gathering in an artist's studio in Burij refugee camp, in the center of the Gaza Strip.

These two exhibitions are the opening of Enamel Falasteen, the first competition organized by the Falasteen Collective, a cultural initiative launched in 2025 by Palestinian artists, filmmakers, designers and other people active in art and culture. Twin three-day exhibitions held earlier this week brought together young Palestinian artists whose work and opportunities to meet have been separated by the restrictions of the Israeli movement.

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"In this competition, we have Palestinian artists from Jerusalem, historic Palestine, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank," said Osama Nezal, one of the judges, speaking in Bethlehem. I don't like these divisions, I want to say all of Palestine."

Painter and juror Ghanem al-Dan sent his congratulations during a live broadcast from his studio at Palta Gallery in Gaza's Burij refugee camp amid Israel's ongoing genocidal war on Palestinians.

He said: Greetings from one to another, from Gaza to our sister cities in Palestine throughout this dear country.

"In this race many things that were lost came together, the most important thing is hope."

"The artists decided to come from Hebron, from Ramallah, from Jerusalem, from Jaffa, from Nablus, despite the danger," said Muhammad Abusrour, one of the founding members of the Palestine group.

"They have a voice, they want to contribute and they want to show the world that we still exist."

Not all works exhibited in Bethlehem were original. Because of the blockade and movement restrictions, organizers said there was no way to move the original artworks out of Gaza. Instead, they printed copies of Gaza's inscriptions and hung them next to the original pieces.

For one visitor to Bethlehem, stewardship was what stood out. He assumed that some of the works exploring similar themes were by the same artist. It turned out that they were made by different artists, some in Gaza and others in the West Bank.

"I sat a little longer with some paintings and tears welled up in my eyes," she said. The live broadcast, featuring everyone's paintings, was a window to bring everyone's nature together."

Young artists document loss and everyday life

The exhibited works reflect the different ways of documenting Palestinian life, from the loss of family and home in Gaza to the traditions and everyday experiences that artists want to preserve.

Abuseror said the idea for the competition came from listening to artist friends talk about how they could not participate or express themselves freely. The goal, he said, was to give Palestinian youth a platform to show their work "without any restrictions" inside and outside the country.

This contest was open to artists aged 15 to 30. About 170 people, nearly 60 percent from Gaza, participated, according to organizers. The jury between the West Bank and Gaza selected 120 works in three tracks: Memory and Place, Land and Return, and Everyday Heritage.

The jury met daily via video, working on power and internet blackouts in Gaza.

"Despite the lack of resources, they decided to participate, and when they decided to participate, they decided to participate with strength," Abusrour said of Gaza's artists.

Among the works that were exhibited in Gaza was "Witness of the Grape Bear" by Arva Makhimer, a 20-year-old university student. The entrance to his family's house is shown in the shade of a grapevine. It was there on March 30, 2024 that he received the news of his father's death. He said he was unable to receive medical treatment during Israel's war against Gaza. Five months later, he said, the house was destroyed.

"This painting is a memorial to what we lost, the double loss of father and place," he told Al Jazeera.

Two days before his death, he said to her: My dear, may God be pleased with you. He wrote these words in the painting.

When he was displaced by the war, he said, "The first thing I thought of was my tools." He said that art supplies are hard to find in Gaza, and some materials never enter the Gaza Strip.

The challenges facing artists go beyond access to materials. The main art spaces in Gaza, including Al-Tiqa and Shababik galleries, have been destroyed as a result of Israel's attacks on Gaza.

Makhimer said his painting "has hope and joy in it, but its meaning is painful and shocking".

In Bethlehem, Hanan Barghouthi, 24, a visual artist from Ramallah, also chose to paint Shadi, but from a different place. His painting of a Palestinian wedding is full of bright colors, traditional symbols and movement.

"All art has become an expression of people's sadness, so I want to reflect happiness because I like to be happy," he says.

Movement restrictions have separated Gaza and the West Bank

Bringing the two exhibitions together required the organizers to circumvent the restrictions that keep Palestinians apart in the two areas. Gaza and West Bank artists live under different conditions of Israeli occupation, but both face obstacles to meet, collaborate and exhibit with each other.

Israel has imposed a land, sea and air blockade of the Gaza Strip since June 2007. In the occupied West Bank, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recorded 925 barriers as of December 2025, restricting the movement of 3.4 million Palestinians, including in East Jerusalem.

Rehab Nazzal, an artist and coach of the pageant's advisory committee, said the split was no accident.

He says: "This creation is the colonial project of the settlers." By suffocating the Palestinians with all the travel restrictions, he intends to drive the Palestinians out.”

Abu Saror said spaces like the exhibition give Palestinian youth a reason to stay and continue creating.

"You can't live in a place and be called stable without having a reason to live," he said.

Watching the Gaza artists on screen, Barghouti said he felt "very sad" and asked himself, "Where are we and where are they?"

"I felt like we were close to them, but far away at the same time," he said. But emotionally, I felt they were with us because our works were with each other.