Art protests
Mideast violence

by Noel Gallagher
The London Free Press
August 7, 2002

Could the paintbrush
be mightier than
the sword?

by Zeina Awad
The Daily Star
August 15, 2002

Exhibition extended to September 7, 2002

Media Release

Group art exhibition against Israeli occupation

July 31, 2002

Over 15 Canadian artists have come together for an exhibition in London, Ontario titled Artists Against the Occupation.

The ten-day exhibition opens on August 7th and is in support of peace in Palestine and Israel.

Artists from across Canada including : London, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver contributed art work for a group exhibition to be held at the Forest City Gallery in London, Ontario.

The exhibition will open with a First Nations' welcome at the Peace Garden (Ivey Park at the Forks on the Thames) on August 7th at 7:00 p.m., followed by a reception at the Forest City Gallery at 8:00 hosted by the London Council of Arab Women.

Artists Against the Occupation is an international arts initiative started by Japanese artist Mizuko Yakuwa in Tokyo in October 2001.

Yakuwa's initiative is inspired by the successful mid-1980s project, "Arts Against Apartheid." An international arts project started to protest South Africa's Apartheid policy.

Yakuwa, who has done work in the Palestinian Territories, says that Israel's occupation of Palestine is the same as South Africa's former apartheid regime.

"The oppression and exploitation by South Africa and those by Israel now resemble each other in spite of their racial and geographic differences," says Yakuwa.

London artist and 2001 Canadian Governor General's Visual Arts Laureate Jamelie Hassan, agrees, "This exhibition is an opportunity for people to come together and show their opposition to Israel's military occupation at a grassroots level and within the cultural community.

Mizuko Yakuwa will be in London for the exhibition's opening on August 7th and will be available for interviews. For more information contact Jamelie Hassan at 519-679-8018.

The following Canadian artists, writers and activists are represented in the exhibition:

Nahla Abdo, Ron Benner, Isabelle Bernier, Kerry Ferris, Janice Gurney, Freda Guttman, Rawi Hage, Gita Hashemi, Jamelie Hassan, Farhang Jalali, Ingrid Mayrhofer, Jayce Salloum, Marcy Saddy, Abdul Hadi Shala, Dan & Mary Lou Smoke, Jean Spence, Larry Towell, B.H. Yael, Sami Zubi. Mizuko Yakuwa of Tokyo, Japan and Mai Masri of Beirut, Lebanon are also in the show.

Artists Against the Occupation is a collective project of the Centre for Baalqisian Studies, the Companions of Qays in cooperation with the Toronto-based Creative Response and the Tokyo- based Artists' League.

After the opening please come to the Richmond Hotel and hear the Ming Poppies ( Marcy drums, Jimmy bass, Trev guitar, Scott vocals/guitar).

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