Gazan teenagers create mosaic murals to revive Palestinian heritage

A Palestinian teenager is seen putting her finishing touches on a big mosaic-colored mural, in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Aug. 1, 2023. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

GAZA, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Inspired by Byzantine-style mosaic art, two Palestinian teens, Lama al-Aqqad and Ahmed Ibrahim, were busy finishing a large mural depicting a woman in a traditional Palestinian dress, swapping a long scarf.

For the past five months, the two, along with some 13 other teens from Gaza, have been working on at least 20,000 small pieces of colored stones and ceramics in a youth artist workshop set up in the headquarters of Culture and Free Thought Association (CFTA), a Gaza-based non-profit organization.

They spend at least eight hours per day cutting hundreds of colored ceramics, using primitive hand tools such as pliers and cutters.

Photo shows the hand of a Palestinian teenager putting his finishing touches on a big mosaic-colored mural, in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Aug. 1, 2023. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

As they made final touches to the mural, the vivid image of a young Palestinian lady wearing traditional clothing appeared on the workbench.

Named "Talhameia Woman," the mosaic portrait of a fictional but collective image of women from Bethlehem in the West Bank aims to bring viewers close to the rich cultural heritage of the local Palestinian people.

"Our female ancestors used to wear their own traditional embroidered dresses. Each Palestinian city has its distinguished clothing," al-Aqqad told Xinhua, referring to the word Talhameia, which means people from Bethlehem.

"Although it is too hard to manage and deal with such a large number of pieces, we are happy to be a part of a process to keep the heritage, which lasts for thousands of years, alive," she said in front of the mural.

Once finished, the portrait and other murals will be installed in the CFTA headquarters and other public spaces in the coastal enclave.

"Not only our traditional costumes have disappeared, but also most of our heritage became rarely known as the people gave up reading history books and instead spent hours per day immersed in a digital world," Ibrahim told Xinhua while grasping some colored stones in his hands.

Palestinian teenagers are seen putting their finishing touches on a big mosaic-colored mural, in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Aug. 1, 2023. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

About 18 months ago, the fifteen teenagers visited archaeological sites in Gaza, which can date back to the Byzantine and Roman eras, in an activity organized by the CFTA to raise young Gazans' cultural awareness, said Mohammed Abu Lahia, supervisor of the art department in the association.

Palestinian teenagers are seen putting their finishing touches on a big mosaic-colored mural, in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Aug. 1, 2023. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

"They loved the mosaic arts used in producing various floors, images, and murals in these sites and were marveled at the rich artistic elements in them," Abu Lahia told Xinhua.

Being inspired, the students urged the CFTA to set up a workshop to allow them to create their own mosaic murals in the traditional Palestinian way.

During the visit, the teenagers noticed that the mosaic floors and images have not been affected by climate and erosion even though more than 4,000 years have passed, as he said.

"Amazed at the incredible arts in the archeological sites, the teenagers suggested we also produce mosaic murals," Abu Lahia added.

The 15 students were then involved in an eight-month intensive educational course on producing mosaic paintings in 2022.

"They started by producing small mosaic figures and became more professional in producing bigger ones after day-by-day training," Abu Lahia explained.

The Palestine Sunbird, the Gaza Sea, an olive tree, an elderly man, and Al-Aqsa Mosque are also being depicted in the big mosaic murals, he noted.

He expected to finish all murals by the end of this year and hold a public exhibition to allow the locals to enjoy such incredible art and reflect upon the rich Palestinian heritage.