All Proceedings Will Go To Charity
Distressed by the images coming out of the ongoing Israel and Palestinian conflict, a Watford based artist has created a unique painting to support children affected by the conflict in Gaza.
Titled Silenced Screams, artist Siddiqa Juma will be auctioning the painting to raise money for those affected by the crisis. Inscribed in the painting are names of children killed in the recent massacre of Gaza.
Speaking on why she decided to create the painting, Saddiqa said, “The names you see on the piece are some of the children killed in the recent bombardment of Gaza are etched into my visual representation of the carnage that is being meted out on the defenceless people of Gaza.”
“I started this painting about Gaza one afternoon and worked right through till the next morning. I stayed awake all night painting. In the time I spent painting in the safety of my home I wonder how many more children in Gaza have been displaced or killed or orphaned.”
“I was so distressed by images and videos of children who have been tragically injured or killed in Gaza that I started to imagine how I would be feeling had I and my children been in Gaza, having to endure the fear and pain. I felt a sense of suffocation as if I was imprisoned in this horror and there was no escape from the violence or the inevitability of even more violence in future. There was no shelter or safe haven that I could escape into to take refuge from the barrage of bombing that rained down. I felt that to understand how the people of Gaza were feeling right now I had to imagine being there.”
“As an artist I felt that I had to express that feeling of anger and helplessness in the best way that I know how. After Zohr (noon) prayers I started to paint and pour my feelings on to the canvas and I continued till after morning prayers. Once I started to paint I was completely transfixed. It was almost like I could not leave it. I wanted to include a message or a poem on the painting as a textural narrative like a graffiti on the landscape of destruction but there could not be any written words that could explain the sense of despair than etching names of the children who lost their lives in this senseless massacre.”
“I am giving up this painting to all who care about the plight of a Palestinian child. Use the image to let you not forget the atrocities, feel free to share it on your social network sites if you wish. The painting will be auctioned to raise money for children of Gaza. I am praying that the transference of one mother’s emotion on to the canvas will be the catalyst that will move you to take action. If you are a writer then write, if you are a sculptor then sculpt, if you are a baker then bake do anything you can to raise awareness and money for children of Gaza. The worst thing we can do is do nothing and carry on with our lives just because this is not happening in our own back yard.”
The auction will happening on Monday 21st July. Anyone wanting to participate should tune into Sky Channel 813.
