STORY: Istanbul exhibition highlights conflicts in Gaza through Palestinian children's eyes
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 4, 2024
DATELINE: Jan. 5, 2024
LENGTH: 0:01:47
LOCATION: Istanbul
CATEGORY: SOCIETY/CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the exhibition hall in Taksim Square in Istanbul
2. various of the exhibition
3. various of Türkiye's First Lady Emine Erdogan at the opening ceremony of the exhibition

STORYLINE:

As visitors enter the exhibition hall at Istanbul's Taksim Square, they are greeted by an image, albeit of its childish strokes, vividly depicting a rocket-propelled grenade piercing the heart of a woman.

This poignant artwork is the creation of Mona, a six-year-old Palestinian girl who lost her mother during the 2009 Gaza War. Her painting, generated into a clip of animation with the help of artificial intelligence, provides a raw and unfiltered glimpse into the most traumatic episode of her young life, offering a candid perspective seen through the eyes of a child.

Mona is one of the many Gazan children who have poured their hearts and souls into their artworks, depicting the horrors and hopes of living in a war zone. Their paintings are part of the "Bulletproof Dreams: Gazan Child Painters" exhibition, which showcases 266 pieces of art by Palestinian children from the Gaza Strip.

The month-long exhibition, which opened on Dec. 29, 2023, aims to raise awareness and empathy for the plight of the Gazan people, especially the children, who have suffered from decades of violence and oppression.

The exhibition is the brainchild of Abdullah Aytekin, a Turkish journalist who covered the Gaza War of 2008-2009. He was moved by the stories and drawings of the children he met in Gaza, who expressed their pain and trauma with honesty and innocence. He decided to collect and display their paintings, hoping to give them a voice and a platform to share their experiences with the world.

The exhibition has drawn a lot of attention and praise, including from Türkiye's First Lady Emine Erdogan, who attended the opening ceremony.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Istanbul, Türkiye.
(XHTV)