When I was young and didn’t know any better…
Nancy Vonk and Janet Kestin, in their book
Pick Me: Breaking into Advertising and Staying There, discussed the pain that someone goes through when looking at work from the very early stages of their practice. A few months ago, I remembered the show I helped put together while a member of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights in university. I almost forgot how much effort we put into this exhibition (‘Understanding Conflict Through Art’) at the Saw Gallery in Ottawa to commemorate 20 years since Naji Al-Ali’s passing, until I saw the photos. It’s hard to believe that Summer 2012 marked twenty-five years since Naji Al-Ali’s death and five years since we put this show together - probably the most successful event in my two or so years working with the group.
The images were collected from a book I found at home featuring most of Naji Al-Ali’s cartoons which were then scanned and printed at U of O’s infamous/unofficial print guy on Laurier St. (sad to see he has gotten rid of the slick car background and drop shadow infused logo). Looking back, I cringe at the labels (hand written!), the typefaces, and decorative elements I used. Frankly, at the entire aesthetic, and quoting Descartes? The advice I would have for 21 year old me! I literally had zero design experience/skills at the time - the U of O Communications programme trained us on some Photoshop but mostly focused on Flash (little did they know it would become obsolete a year later) - but I consider it to be one of my first steps into the realm of visual communication.
I took this picture in Gaza in August 2002. That was my first and only visit. The rubble is a former apartment building, which was destroyed by Israel via air because they suspected a Hamas member was hiding there. None of the occupants were evacuated from the building before it was destroyed. Gaza is an open air prison, and as I type this, its citizens are under constant air strikes from Israel.
