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Tunisians commemorate the Nakba with inspirational paintings

May 17, 2017 at 1:15 pm

Tunisians protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Tunis, Tunisia on 16th May 2017 [Amine Landoulsi/Anadolu Agency]

The people of Tunisia are commemorating the 69th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba with an exhibition of inspirational paintings at the Third International Contemporary Art Festival, Anadolu reported on Tuesday. The theme of the programme is “Heading to Jerusalem”.

The biennial festival started on Monday in the capital Tunis and will close on Thursday. Twenty-seven Tunisian artists are taking part, along with poets, intellectuals and musicians. Organised by NGOs Nawares Culture and Arts and Rawasi Palestine Culture and Arts, the event is under the auspices of the Tunisian government.

#NakbaDay

According to local artist Amal Zaeem, the festival has massive “implied symbolism” for the liberation of Palestine, its rebuilding and ending the “hellish occupation.” She has three paintings in the exhibition. “All Tunisians carry the Palestinian cause with them from a young age,” she added.

Read: Recasting the Nakba

The head of Nawares NGO, Samira Al-Khalfi, pointed out that the festival coincides with similar events in six Arab capitals — Rabat, Beirut, Amman, Cairo, Algiers and Baghdad — in solidarity with the Palestinian cause. “The dream of a return to Jerusalem lives in the minds of many Tunisian artists,” she explained, “so their paintings express their anger at the current situation in Palestine.”