An ode to Artists who remain beacons of Hope regardless of their surrounding horrors.
Artist & Date
Bernice Troskie, 2023
Medium
Coffee, Watercolour, Red Wine, and Oil Paint on Canvas
Dimensions
915mm x 610mm
(Please note that the proceeds of this painting will be used to fund the rebuilding of cultural and religious sites in the Gaza Strip)
Title: Hope, Artist: Bernice Troskie, 2023. Coffee, Watercolour, Red Wine, and Oil Paint on Canvas.
This piece was completed during October, November, and December 2023. It did not start off that way, but it is now an ode to Refaat Alareer, and all the Artists, Journalists, and Teachers; who’s lives and works were cut short in Gaza and Palestine. It will be a tale. It will bring Hope. We, your fellow artists, will make it so.
If I must die – by Refaat Alareer (written on the back of the canvas)
If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze—
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself—
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale.