Street Art has been speaking volumes around the world, raising the voice of the Palestinian people. This time, in Barcelona, an installation titled ‘The Children of Peace’.
An art installation calling for an end to fighting in Gaza appeared on downtown Barcelona’s Ramblas Boulevard.
The installation by French street artist, James Colomina, is titled ‘The Children of Peace’ and reportedly featured statues of two children holding hands, one wearing a Jewish kippah and the other a Palestinian keffiyeh as head-dress, according to a Reuters report.
Painted entirely in Colomina’s hallmark bright red, they stand in front of a white canvas displaying a heart shape containing the peace symbol, all made with red handprints.
Colomina reportedly said that he chose Barcelona because it was a “city where street art shines out to the world”.
After about four hours, the display was removed by construction workers.
A sculpture by French street artist James Colomina, titled 'The Children of Peace,' depicts an Israeli and a Palestinian boy holding hands in front of a heart-shaped peace symbol in Barcelona, Spain, 08 February 2024. 📷️ EPA / EFE / Quique Garcia#israel #gaza #epaimages pic.twitter.com/KtBYaxvNHn
— EPA Images (@EPA_Images) February 8, 2024
‘Ceasefire Now’ Banner
Last month, human rights and environmental activists demanding a ceasefire in Gaza unfurled a giant picture of a Palestinian child crying for help, above the entrance to Madrid’s Reina Sofia Museum.
The protest action was organized by Greenpeace and the Unmute Gaza movement which supports photojournalists reporting from the besieged enclave.
The banner, illustrated by US street artist Shepard Fairey, also known as ‘Obey’, read: “Can you hear us?” and had an “unmute” icon on the child’s face.
“The work paid homage to an image taken by Gazan photojournalist Belal Khaled, which shows a Palestinian child crying for help,” the Unmute Gaza movement said on its Instagram page.
To the applause and cheers of onlookers, a Ceasefire Now banner was hung beneath the image.
Activists Unveil Giant ‘Ceasefire Now’ Banner in Madrid – VIDEO
Death Toll Rises
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 27,947 Palestinians have been killed, and 67,459 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 8,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international estimates say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all of the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
(PC, MEMO)
