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Some of Bahrain’s top street artists have come together to create a wall of support and solidarity for their brothers and sisters in Palestine.
The Art Attack Krew, founded last year at the onset of the pandemic, united recently, just before the new Covid-19 restrictions came into effect, to tag a wall in Tubli.
Their message? A reminder that ‘Palestine’, graffitied in Arabic, is still reeling under the impact of decades of oppression, including the most recent violence.
Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire last week, halting an 11-day assault that devastated the Gaza Strip, and left more than 200 people dead... including at least 67 children under the age of 18.
“The situation that the Palestinians are going through has been heart-breaking,” explained Faisal Mohammed, a 23-year-old tagger who has been with the crew for much of the past year.
“People losing their loved ones, families broken, and dreams crushed - the feeling worsens when I realise that I cannot be there to help any of them.
“We did our best to spread awareness, using our talent to create this mural to show our support to the Palestinians and let them know that their pain and suffering are not falling on deaf ears.”
Faisal was joined by Samar Bushehri, Isa Mubarak, Salman Aljar, Faisal Mohammed, Sayed Mahmoud, Shalini Pillai, Yousif Zainal and Sayed Ali Hashem, and led by the founder of the group - Aref Guloom, better known by his street tag ‘Ayfu’.
Choosing a simple colour palette of red, green, white and black to represent the Palestinian flag and adding a splash of gold, blue and grey to integrate the Al Aqsa mosque dome, the nonet tagged the piece in just four hours on a Tubli wall, with the owner’s approval.
And bringing the whole piece together is Handala, a 1969 icon of Palestinian perseverance and struggle.
“We wanted to remind people about Handala, a 10-year-old child character, wearing tattered clothing and looking away from the viewer,” said 27-year-old Aref.
“It is a symbol that marks the absence of freedom for Palestinians since the boy will not show his face until Palestine is free.
“It hurts seeing a little boy being a representative of this struggle but it reflects what is happening as children lose their homes, parents and lives.”
Handala was created in 1969 by Palestinian cartoonist Naji Al Ali, who noted that the boy “was born 10 years old and will always be 10,” because that was the age he left his homeland. Only when Handala and Naji returned to their homeland could he start growing up.
Naji died in 1987 before he could realise that dream, however Handala has been immortalised in street art around the world, in support of the struggle of the Palestinian people.
Samar, 27, who was one of the first taggers to join the Art Attack Krew having built her own portfolio of work as one of Bahrain’s first female graffiti artists, came up with the idea of an art work for Palestine – and the rest, as they say, is history.
“The violence and the victims of conflict made us stand hand-in-hand, and I believe, that, as artists it’s time for us to focus on this subject so no one ever dares to forget about the struggles of the Palestinian families and children, who have been devastated by the attacks,” Samar added.
The piece came as the Art Attack Krew marked its one-year-anniversary, having grown to 24 artists and done more than 50 pieces in under 12 months.
The group has no intention of stopping and is planning to “come up with new ideas to show our love for Palestine,” according to Aref.
For details, follow @art.attack.krew on Instagram.
