Mohammed
Musallam (1974)
محمد مصطفى مسلم
Lives and works in Toronto, ON
Born in Gaza, Mohammad Musallam holds a Ph.D. in Art Philosophy and taught drawing, painting, and the history of Palestinian art at the Al-Aqsa University Gaza. He is an interdisciplinary artist whose work bridges painting, performance, installation, and video focusing on the freedom of movement, peace, and liberty of Palestinians. Musallam often uses materials taken from the local environment to express issues of place and home. His art work has been exhibited internationally, most recently at the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh in 2016.
PALESTINIAN PRISONERS’ DAY, 17 avril 2020
This work was created on April 17, the day Palestinians designate as a day of solidarity with political prisoners in the Israeli occupation prisons. Since the Oslo peace agreement was signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel in 1993, Israel has continued to delay the release of prisoners and regularly detain Palestinians. Currently there are more than five thousand prisoners, including over two hundred children, in Israeli jails.
In light of the COVID 19 pandemic, the suffering of the prisoners is exacerbated by the great spread of the epidemic, which poses a real threat to their lives. This photograph with a mask made from barbed-wire highlights the suffering of these “forgotten” prisoners.
