‘Our works are next to each other’: Art bridges Gaza and West Bank

What the report says

Young Palestinian artists in Gaza and the occupied West Bank were brought together through Anamel Falasteen, a new competition and exhibition organized by the Falasteen Collective, a cultural initiative launched in 2025. Al Jazeera reported that the project opened with twin, simultaneous exhibitions earlier this week: one at the Bethlehem Peace Center in the occupied West Bank and another connected by live video to an artist’s studio in Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.

The exhibits featured work by artists aged 15 to 30, with submissions selected across themes including memory and place, land and return, and everyday heritage. Organizers said around 170 artists applied, many from Gaza, and about 120 works were chosen. Because of movement restrictions and the blockade on Gaza, original artworks could not be transported out of the enclave, so reproductions of Gaza pieces were shown in Bethlehem alongside original West Bank works.

The article said the project highlighted how Palestinian artists remain separated by Israeli restrictions but still sought a shared cultural space. Judges and organizers emphasized that the initiative was meant to give young Palestinians a platform to show work inside and outside the country, despite power cuts, internet disruption and limited access to materials in Gaza. Some works focused on grief, displacement and loss, while others, such as a Ramallah artist’s painting of a wedding, emphasized joy and continuity.

More broadly, Al Jazeera framed the exhibitions as both an artistic event and a statement about connection under division: artists and visitors described the experience as emotionally close even when physically apart.