LONDON: Visitors to London’s P21 Gallery are offered an intimate glimpse into the hardships and resilience of Gaza’s people through the work of 11 photographers. “Against Erasure – Photographs from Gaza”, supported by Kuwait and its embassy in the UK, runs through October 10, highlighting the human cost of genocide and the resilience of a people striving for dignity and justice.
The show features Gaza-based photographers—Mahmoud Abu Hamda, Belal Alhams, Jehad Alshrafi, Hammam Younis Alzyatuniya, Anas Ayyad, Majdi Fathi Suleiman Qraiqea, Belal Khaled, Ahmed Salama, Fatima Alzahra Shbair, Ali Jadallah, and Abdul Rahman Zaqout—whose works were produced with support from the Photo Humanity Grant. The exhibition is co-curated by Yahya Zaloom, the Photo Humanity Grant, and visual artist Razan Al-Sarraf.
Sami Alramyan, head of the Humanitarian Photography Grant, told KUNA the exhibition underscores the power of photography to expose violations against children and teachers in Palestine and other conflict zones. “The exhibition confirms that a picture is worth more than a thousand words, capable of exposing the abuses faced by children and teachers in Palestine and other areas of armed conflict,” he said.
Alramyan explained that the show highlights attacks on education in Gaza, Syria, Sudan, and Ukraine, portraying “the daily tragedies students endure, from destroyed schools and torn books to dreams threatened with loss.”
The exhibition captures life under one of the world’s most violent conflicts, presenting both the immense hardships and the resilience of Gaza’s population. “Through formal sensitivity and conceptual clarity, these images reframe Gaza not as a spectacle of suffering, but as a landscape of humanity, where creativity becomes both a mode of survival and a claim to visibility,” organizers said on the exhibition’s website.
Saad Marzouq Al-Otaibi, Chairman of the Union of Charitable Societies and Foundations and CEO of Namaa Charity, said the London exhibition provides an unfiltered window into Palestinian suffering. “The photographs are not mere art pieces but human documents reflecting moments of pain and resilience, carrying true accounts of victims of aggression and revealing the daily tragedies faced by civilians in Gaza,” he said.
Abdulaziz Al-Ibrahim, head of communications at Kuwait’s Nama Charitable Foundation, noted that Western visitors expressed shock at the scale of suffering not sufficiently conveyed by mainstream media. “These images changed their perception of what is happening in Gaza,” he said.
The Photo Humanity Grant supports a global network of documentary photographers, providing financial and technical assistance to help them tell humanitarian stories. The initiative, launched in March 2024 by Kuwaiti photographers, emphasizes training young photographers to use visual storytelling for social impact.
Partners supporting the exhibition include Kuwaiti Nama Charity, Kaaf Humanity, and the International Islamic Charity Organization. — Agencies