An art installation remembering children killed in Gaza will be launched as part of this year’s Awakening the Walls in the lead-up to Halloween in Derry.
But the Monster Came will be located at the New Life Garden at Nailors Row on 28, 29 and 30 October.
Since October 2023, an average of 28 children have been killed every day by Israel – the equivalent of an entire classroom of children lost daily in Gaza.
Féile Derry and Eden Place Arts Centre have created an installation of 28 empty school chairs, each one representing those young lives.
The artwork will also feature statements from Palestinian children about their experiences of life under military occupation and daily bombardment, voiced by students from Holy Child PS in Creggan.
This is inspired by the ongoing HeART of Gaza project, which began as an exchange of artwork between children in Gaza and Ireland, and has since expanded into an exhibition of Palestinian children’s art.
The exhibition provides a platform for the most vulnerable, the most voiceless, and the most impacted by violence to share the reality of enduring a genocide with the world.
Inspired by the ancient Celtic tradition of Samhain, the artwork stands as a quiet remembrance to the thousands of children who have died over the last 24 months in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
