Event review of Creativity & Conflict: Producing Art in Palestine
By Kate Jones
When words fail, art speaks
This was the discussion at last night’s Camcreatives as we looked at creativity in an area of conflict.
Nick Welsh from the Amos Trust talked about how artists from Gaza use their creativity to share their stories, motivations, frustrations and realities of being artists under siege.
We saw how the work of the Amos Trust provides advocacy for new, emerging, and established artists.
And, of course, no talk about creativity in Palestine would be complete without mentioning one very established artist – Banksy!
Art is ingrained in the culture of Gaza and there is a vibrant art scene in the city. Nick and his team want to introduce these world-class artists to a wider audience.
We saw lots of examples of the art, some of which you can see on the Amos Trust website: amostrust.org
We had a sneaky peak inside the presidential suite of Banksy’s Walled Off Hotel And we saw the view from the hotel window – which is basically the wall.
But more importantly, the Walled Off Hotel has a gallery where the artists can exhibit their work. Nick was involved in setting up the exhibition at the gallery. Being the Walled Off Hotel there is a constant stream of international visitors and new audiences for these artists.
As Nick is a frequent visitor to Palestine, it was fascinating to hear more about the city itself including its cheese and pistachio deserts (yum). My favourite quote of the evening: ‘Bethlehem is famous for two things, baby Jesus and Banksy’.
Next month
We’ll be joined by Sara Kedge who’ll be talking about ‘The Crux of Creativity and Worth: A discussion on neurodiversity’.
Camcreatives is free to attend, and if you get there early there’s a drink on us!
