Art created from the heart of war

Last week I received an email from a follower to this blog asking why I thought art was worth discussing when there are so many terrible things happening in the world. Today the internet has provided me with an answer to that.

Tawfik Gebreel, a Gaza-based Palestinian architect has released a series of artwork created from his firsthand experience of life inside the Gaza Strip. Using what he refers to as the “universal humanitarian language understood by all peoples” Gebreel has sketched over images of the rising smoke of air strikes with drawings of strength, hope and despair, immediately putting the human cost of conflict in this tiny, densely-populated region into context.

In the words of the German composer Robert Shumann:
“To send light into the darkness of men’s hearts – such is the duty of the artist.”

This story first appeared on Inhabitat