ISLAMABAD: Inside an art gallery in Pakistan’s capital, art enthusiasts stand poring over one particular drawing: a woman stands with her eyes closed, hands folded across her chest, and a composed smile on her face. Her hair, a beautiful mixture of red, white, green, and black colors, can be seen blowing in the wind like a flag. To her left stand three Israeli soldiers armed with huge scissors, ready to snip her hair and with it, her independence.

Pakistan’s National Heritage and Culture Division organized an art exhibition at the Lok Virsa gallery in Islamabad in collaboration with local artists on Saturday, Oct. 28. Titled: ‘In Pursuit of Freedom,’ the aim of the exhibition was to raise funds for the people of Gaza suffering from intense bombardment by Israeli forces.

The exhibition featured the works of artists from Bahrain, Lebanon, and Pakistan. While all artists announced to donate 50 percent of their proceeds to charity organizations carrying out relief work in Gaza, some said they were willing to donate 100 percent of their earnings to charity.

Israeli bombardment in Gaza has killed over 7,700 people in the besieged territory, according to the Gaza health ministry. Israel says it is retaliating to an attack launched on Oct. 7 by Hamas’ military wing in which over 1,300 people were killed and more than a hundred were taken hostage.

“A lot of artists were responding to it [massacre in Gaza],” Sundas Azfer, the curator of the exhibition, told Arab News. “We organized this art show in three weeks and contacted artists such as Bahraini Sara Qaed and Hanane Kai, a Lebanese artist and artists from Pakistan.”

Nader AlTurk, the deputy head of the Palestine mission in Pakistan, praised the culture ministry and Lok Virsa management for organizing the exhibition. He said for the people of Palestine, the exhibition “means a lot” as strong pictures often convey messages better than words. 

“I saw many photos having a very strong message in them,” AlTurk told Arab News. “It gives us Palestinians the feeling that we are not alone in our battle for freedom and independence.”

All in all, 23 pieces of art were being sold at the exhibition, with the highest priced at Rs180,000 ($650) while the lowest for Rs22,000 ($79.46).

Other hand-painted drawings carried various messages linked to the massacre in Gaza. One showed international media harboring an indifferent attitude whenever Palestinian civilians are targeted with bombs. The same drawing showed the media raising a hue and cry as a bullet was headed in the direction of a few Israeli soldiers.

Another showed a handcuffed Palestinian standing helplessly as an Israeli soldier stabs him in the back and carves a huge piece from his chest. The part of the chest he walks away with is shaped like the front of a house, depicting how besieged Palestinians in Gaza are being deprived of the roofs over their heads.

Haris Qayyum had contributed to the gallery with two abstract pieces of art: a painting depicting Gaza as the world’s largest open-air prison with graphite on a 20 x 30-inch frame.

The other was titled: Zuhr Prayer. Qayyum said this painting was based on the Islamic afternoon Zuhr prayer, which is said to enhance one’s wealth.

He said the painting was a dichotomy between the concepts of wealth and riches. Qayyum said in economics, humans are taught to enhance their scarce resources while religion teaches man about the “abundance of the divine.”

“Here I’ve got this expression in front of everyone and I’ve used rock pigments and natural rock pigments in this and I’m hiding wealth and saying, ‘What is wealth?’

“Are we looking at Palestine’s cost from an angle of futures and derivatives and oil futures or are we looking at it from a human value, working for the welfare of people and sort of believing in human rights?”

AlTurk hoped the exhibition would help spread the message about what is happening in Gaza.

“I hope the world as a whole, especially the Americans and British understand and end their blind support for Israel, end their genocide and their crimes against humanity and the people of Palestine,” he said.