Looking back, hovering over the Gallery's roof, one can reconstruct what transpired. Scores of artists have come, motivated by an insuppressible urge to engage with the material and an affinity with the people and the place. Light hovering takes me back three months to a joy of creation and a human interaction rare in beauty and quality alike. Only three months have passed, and we are already elsewhere, in another human reality, different in its severity and the extent of destruction it brings about. I was taken to yet another flight by the drums of war and cannon mouths. There I saw destruction, loss, and bereavement.

I am hurting and anxious, facing grave existential questions; trapped between two polar situations, I find myself in the middle, preferring to speak of an era of creation, contact, and hope; perhaps in order to repress the fear and subdue the anxiety, perhaps in order to allow myself a proper confrontation with the tough existential questions.

One cannot ignore the seven days of artistic practice, the morning encounters in the cafeteria and on the roof, the music, the food, the clay, the artworks, the smiles, the people, and all the hands that kneaded and processed that clay in solo and group pieces throughout many fascinating hours of artistic creation. I constantly moved between the workshops, and felt great love for each and every one of you. You projected strength, and I felt love and perplexity vis-à-vis your great power and energy. Several days ago I was party to the experience of opening the packages in order to photograph the works. Daphna, Tirza, and I were enormously thrilled in view of the wonderful works we pulled out of the crates and wrappers time and again.

Scheduled to open in September, the exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue and a film, which together will reflect days of creation, education, and community. This exhibition will not mark the end of a concluded chapter, but rather the beginning of a new process and era that will draw on this experience and the engaging encounter.

It was a great privilege to follow you, listen to you, and observe you. We had hoped that out Palestinian colleagues would join us at the meeting, but the checkpoint once again blocked their passage, denying them the ability to take part, and us – the privilege of their acquaintance and the ability to spend time together. This is the place to send out blessings and love to all the Palestinian artists, and in these difficult times to pray for their wellbeing and for the fulfillment of our shared dream for peace, prosperity, and freedom.

Your contribution has been immense and inspiring, my dear brothers, colleagues and friends.

Said Abu Shakra

Director of the Gallery