Conference Program

Since the launch of the HeART OF GAZA project, art has become a unique tool for expressing children’s emotions, feelings, and daily lives under the ongoing violence and destruction in Gaza (Timraz, Pettinari, 2025). The artworks created by children are not merely drawings: they are a direct reflection of their resilience and determination, and they embody their resistance to the daily challenges they have faced for years (Karim, 2022). Each workshop and each piece of art represents an effort to confront the harsh reality and to convey their voices to the world in a peaceful yet powerful and impactful way. Despite the continuous bombing, destruction, and the ongoing atrocities affecting children, their commitment to attend artistic spaces and continue drawing reflects the strength of their will and a form of resistance in its simplest and most profound form (Hameed, 2024). Here, art becomes a means of reinforcing Palestinian identity, expressing daily struggle, and preserving collective memory. Just as journalists resist through their work, doctors through their professions, and fishermen through their labor, children and artists in Gaza practice a form of resistance through creativity and artistic expression. Through murals, drawings, music, and poetry, artists in Gaza convey stories of resilience and hope to the world. Art is not merely a cultural activity , it is a powerful tool for preserving memory and confronting oppression. It is used to express both pain and strength through visual symbols and traditional motifs. Consequently, art becomes a form of resistance without weapons, yet it carries a strong impact in conveying identity, resilience, and hope to future generations and to the outside world.