Brian Maguire
Art for Gaza, a three-day exhibition at the Copper House Gallery in Dublin 8, will feature Dorothy Cross, Charlie Tyrell, Mick Mulcahy, Patrick Scott, Imogen Stewart, Alice Hanratty and Guggi among others. All proceeds from the auction, net of expenses, will go to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which currently has staff working in the Gaza Strip.
Leading Irish artist Dorothy Cross, who donated a bronze cast of a dead bird at the hands of a human to the exhibition, described what was happening in Gaza as a “carnage” where “they kept opening fire on us. ‘absolutely no excuse for not stopping’.
“You can put the big words down for me, I’m not going to hide it, it’s a massacre,” he told The Irish Times ahead of the show. “It’s terrible, it’s terrible.”
Artist Charlie Tyrell said: “We all feel helpless in the face of such evil being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza, but it is up to those who can to do something to stop it. The coming together of artists is a small but important gesture to alleviate the suffering of innocent, helpless Palestinians.”
MSF’s work in Gaza is ‘vital’ and ‘active’. “It’s strange that Israel is doing this in this day and age. “You hear pathetic arguments on the radio about whether it’s genocide or not, it’s a waste of time. People are dying as we speak. As we speak, people are drowning crossing the Mediterranean Sea – a lot. And yet we feel so vulnerable. We need to be out on the streets more.”
The exhibition also features works by Brian Maguire, James English, Domino Whisker, John Behan, Susie O’Mullane, Maria Simmonds Gooding, Abigail O’Brien, Michael Caine, Constance Short, Michelle Sweetman, Brona Anderson, Shane McGowan and Michael Stipe.
Sabina Higgins will open the screen on Thursday 29 February at 6pm with a live performance by Irish-Palestinian musician and director Róisín El Cherif. The online art auction by Whyte’s Irish Art & Collectables Auctioneers (bid.whytes.ie/) has already opened and will run until 5pm on Saturday 2nd March.
The demonstration followed last week’s dire warning from MSF Secretary-General Christopher Lockheer that Israeli forces would continue to attack medical aid convoys, arresting medical workers, bulldozing ambulances and bombing hospitals.
“How can we deliver life-saving care in an environment where the distinction between civilians and combatants is blurred?” asked Mr. Lokhir, speaking before the UN Security Council last Thursday.
“There is no health system to speak of in Gaza. The Israeli military has dismantled hospital after hospital. There is very little left in the face of such carnage. It is unbelievable,” he said.