The central figures in this collage series come from Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour’s “Ten Years of Mud” series of paintings. Using mud, Mansour captures “the essence of Palestinian rootedness as well as the fragmentation in the Palestinian political landscape and geography — echoed in the cracks growing in the mud as it dries.” (1) Mansour embraced the use of mud and other natural materials in 1987, when he, Vera Tamari, Tayseer Barakat, and Nabil Anani established the New Visions Movement. They called on Palestinian artists to boycott Israeli art supplies and embrace local natural materials in solidarity with the First Intifada (1987-1993) and the Palestinian boycott of Israeli goods.
Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s landscape, a systematic process that has been unfolding through ongoing bombing campaigns for two decades, is part of Israel’s long historical project to complete the occupation, settlement and incorporation of all Palestinian territory through the obliteration of the Palestinian people, culture, and landscape. Erasure of the indigenous population and culture is central to the workings of all settler colonial societies. Emptying the land of indigenous people and the culture they developed in relationship with the land enables the settler to claim dominion over the land. As Sliman Mansour observed, it is the central “strategy of the Zionist movement, to deny your existence, because when you are not there, it's much easier to take your land, to kill you, to imprison you.” (2)
The unprecedented pulverization of Gaza into over 60 million tons of rubble since October 7, 2023 is not only part of this long historical project, it also signals an alarming escalation of the project. Israel is now willing and able to commit ecocide in its drive to obliterate the Palestinian people by destroying all capacity of the natural and built environment to sustain life. This escalation in war crimes and crimes against humanity were systematically documented during International People’s Tribunal on Palestine, held in Barcelona November 22-24, 2025. (3)
This collage series evokes the deep history of this settler colonial assault on the Palestinian people and their determination to survive and remain on their land despite the unfolding genocide and ecocide in Gaza. The series was exhibited at CollageWave Barcelona 2026.
Sources:
1) “Celebrate the powerful art of Palestinian Identity and Resistance,” https://slimanmansour.com/about-the-artist-sliman-mansour/
2) Nadda Osman, “The Symbol as Resistance: Sliman Mansour on Occupation and Palestinian Identity,” Middle East Eye, 12 July 2023, https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/palestine-israel-artist-sliman-mansour-symbol-resistance-identity
3) International People’s Tribunal Palestine https://internationalsolidarity.org/tribunal/
Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s landscape, a systematic process that has been unfolding through ongoing bombing campaigns for two decades, is part of Israel’s long historical project to complete the occupation, settlement and incorporation of all Palestinian territory through the obliteration of the Palestinian people, culture, and landscape. Erasure of the indigenous population and culture is central to the workings of all settler colonial societies. Emptying the land of indigenous people and the culture they developed in relationship with the land enables the settler to claim dominion over the land. As Sliman Mansour observed, it is the central “strategy of the Zionist movement, to deny your existence, because when you are not there, it's much easier to take your land, to kill you, to imprison you.” (2)
The unprecedented pulverization of Gaza into over 60 million tons of rubble since October 7, 2023 is not only part of this long historical project, it also signals an alarming escalation of the project. Israel is now willing and able to commit ecocide in its drive to obliterate the Palestinian people by destroying all capacity of the natural and built environment to sustain life. This escalation in war crimes and crimes against humanity were systematically documented during International People’s Tribunal on Palestine, held in Barcelona November 22-24, 2025. (3)
This collage series evokes the deep history of this settler colonial assault on the Palestinian people and their determination to survive and remain on their land despite the unfolding genocide and ecocide in Gaza. The series was exhibited at CollageWave Barcelona 2026.
Sources:
1) “Celebrate the powerful art of Palestinian Identity and Resistance,” https://slimanmansour.com/about-the-artist-sliman-mansour/
2) Nadda Osman, “The Symbol as Resistance: Sliman Mansour on Occupation and Palestinian Identity,” Middle East Eye, 12 July 2023, https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/palestine-israel-artist-sliman-mansour-symbol-resistance-identity
3) International People’s Tribunal Palestine https://internationalsolidarity.org/tribunal/