Gaza City – “I am 22, I lost 22 people”. Zainab al-Qolaq’s words opened her first art exhibition in Gaza, with nine paintings that depict her tragic story.
Al-Qolaq lost 22 members of her family, including her mother, her only sister and two of her brothers, during the Israeli military offensive on Gaza last May.
On May 16, 2021, an Israeli airstrike hit al-Qolaq’s home, turning it into rubble and leaving her clinging to life under debris for 12 hours before she was pulled out.
In the past year, al-Qolaq has devoted herself to processing her grief through her art, and held a two-day exhibition on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In the paintings, al-Qolaq illustrated the events of the day her house was bombed, as well as the internal conflicts and struggles that she has experienced since.
“Each painting embodies a tragic moment that I lived because of the Israeli occupation”, al-Qolaq told Al Jazeera at the exhibition.
Al-Qolaq explained that the nature of her drawings was embodying the “death and war”, as she wants anyone who sees them to read her feelings and understand the painful moments she went through....
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