Gaza- A tent on one of the corners of Al-Salam Street in the city of Deir Al-Balah catches your attention when you set foot in the most crowded geographic spot in the world, and as soon as you arrive, you are greeted by Bilal Abu Nahl, an artist who is mute except to talk about his love for Gaza and the homeland.
Creativity born of war
Bilal, who is 26 years old, was not deterred by the circumstances of war, nor by the sound of bullets, nor by the barrage of rockets. He did not let go of his pen, which used to draw Gaza. He used the walls of his nylon-covered tent as a gallery for his drawings.
Bilal does not listen to people or listen to their concerns, but he notices in his heart what happened to Gaza and its people during their displacement and the loss of their loved ones. He paints their pain in gray colors, while before the aggression he used to color their stories with his rainbow colors.
The young man, Bilal, grew up as an amateur of drawing. He began by drawing on paper, while his drawing developed into paintings and engravings on walls. He considers these paintings to be the easiest way to address the world and bring him closer to people.
Paintings before and after the war
The painting took between one and ten days before the aggression. He used to draw children playing in the gardens and on the seashore, and after the aggression on Gaza, he began to paint black and white paintings that express people’s suffering and oppression.
For the young man, Bilal, drawing was not just a hobby before the aggression. Rather, it became his source of income. He began to paint on the walls of the main streets in Gaza. He also painted “portraits” of legal figures whose biography depicted the most beautiful images of giving to Palestine before the war came and destroyed his plans and dreams.
As a cultural exhibition, the displaced people see the tent of the young painter “Abu Nahl”. They visit it and are amazed at the drawing under the barrage of missiles at times, and that the fingertips that created it are those of a young man who suffers from not interacting with the world through words at other times. All the visitors are astonished and take pictures of his paintings, as well as taking pictures of their own. As a memory in the tent of his creativity, they encourage him to continue his passion and support his continuation.
The tent is steadfast and defiant
“Riyad Al-Jayeh” is the caregiver for the artist “Abu Nahl” in his house. He was present, sitting next to him, receiving visitors to the tent and speaking to them on behalf of “Bilal.” He says while looking at his paintings: “I stay with Bilal from seven in the morning until ten at night, supporting him while he writes with his brush.” His creative paintings, adding: “I created a drawing tent for him so that it would be a source of income for him in light of the horrific war that was launched on the Gaza Strip.”
Magdy Moussa is Bilal’s friend who comes to him every day to support him and strengthen his steadfastness. He says while moving between his paintings: “In Gaza, everything is non-existent. Our talents, our ambitions, and our institutions that care about art are non-existent in light of the barbaric aggression on the Gaza Strip.”
The young Gazan, Yamen Aweida, who visits Bilal’s art tent daily, praised his artistic work, whose talent was born from the womb of war, and called for support, especially since he has special needs, so that creativity might explode in Bilal’s soul with paintings that express his feelings and those of the people of Gaza.
Culture in the Occupation Goals Bank
In an interview with a cultural specialist, the art education teacher at Khan Yunis Preparatory School, Ahmed Al-Tarturi, said that Bilal’s tent represents a form of will and challenge that characterizes the Palestinian people, which Bilal expresses with his brush, which resists in its own way.
Al-Tarturi adds that the presence of this exhibition in an area filled with displaced people sends a message to them that steadfastness and defiance are the only option for this people who are exposed to the worst wars of genocide, but they refuse to kneel and surrender.
Al-Tarturi also called on cultural institutions in the Arab world to pay attention to this talent and provide it with material and moral support in light of the compelling circumstances that cultural institutions in the besieged sector are going through, which are directly targeted by the occupation as part of its barbaric war on everything Palestinian.
Abu Nahl dreams beyond the borders of the wounded, besieged country. He hopes to participate in international painting exhibitions, in which he will display his drawings and be the voice of Gaza, whose youth have been deprived of flying outside its walls due to the extreme siege on the Gaza Strip for more than 17 years, away from the glare of rockets. That fills the skies of Gaza.
The cultural movement was not far from the brutality and aggression of the war. It was its target. According to the latest report issued by the Palestinian Ministry of Culture, 44 writers, artists and activists in the field of culture were martyred during the first four months of the war, in addition to 32 institutions, centers and theaters being damaged either partially or completely. 9 public libraries and 8 publishing houses and printing presses were also damaged.