Artist brings beauty to war-damaged Gaza home

Yahoo – AFP, Adel Zaanoun, December 17, 2016

Dutch artist Marjan Teeuwen specialises in turning unwanted places into
 works of art, with her latest work 'Shaath House,' a barren house in the Gaza
Strip (AFP Photo/SAID KHATIB)

Khan Yunis (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Dutch artist Marjan Teeuwen walks past a column formed from rubble to show off her latest creation, a barren house in the Gaza Strip where doorless rooms face into bleak, empty space.

The 'Shaath House' in Khan Yunis in the south of the Palestinian territory was largely destroyed by an Israeli attack in the 2014 Gaza war but Teeuwen, 52, specialises in turning unwanted places into works of art.

Working with Palestinian engineers and artists and the Palestinian Red Crescent, she is "transforming a demolished house into a beautiful sculpture" which will serve briefly as a museum.

There is one major difference however between the Gaza house and her previous works, in the Netherlands, Russia and South Africa.

Teeuwen usually works in buildings that are due to be destroyed in a few months, turning them into temporary exhibits in what she describes as juxtaposition of the opposing forces of construction and destruction.

"(But) for the first time I started in a building which was destroyed already, which was destroyed by war," she told AFP.

Perhaps Teeuwen's most famous work in the Netherlands saw her transform four empty houses due for demolition into a minimalist space with tilted floors and caved-in walls.

But in Gaza, they had to start by rebuilding one of the walls destroyed during the war.

The team closed it with rows of bricks and breeze blocks stacked on top of each other but without cement, which is sparse in Gaza, leaving space for light to come through.

Inside the exhibition, which took Teeuwen three months, she has used rubble and chips of tiles from the war to construct a column which snakes upwards to the ceiling.

Floors have been twisted upwards or collapsed inwards, while some interior walls were removed completely. Others fall diagonally or are deliberately disjointed to create the feeling that "everything is on edge," a written guide to the work said.

The 'Shaath House' in Khan Yunis was largely destroyed by an Israeli attack

 in the 2014 Gaza war but Marjan Teeuwen specialises in turning unwanted 

places into works of art (AFP Photo/SAID KHATIB)

'We love art and beauty'

More than 120,000 homes were partially or fully destroyed in the 50-day war in 2014, which led to the deaths of 2,251 Palestinians and 73 Israelis, according to the United Nations agency for Palestinians (UNRWA).

71,000 have been repaired, while 12,000 are in the process, UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said.

A further 57,000 are yet to be repaired or rebuilt.

Dressed in black, Teeuwen talked to her colleagues by a fire to keep warm in the winter air, despite the sun poking through holes in the roof.

"My message to the Palestinian people is visit this place and see the beauty," she said.

Mohamed Abu Dagga, Teeuwen's assistant, said he hoped the artwork would send a "message" about Gaza.

"Despite the blockade and all the wars the Palestinian people still love art and beauty and life," he said.

Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade for a decade, while Egypt has also largely closed its border with the beleaguered Palestinian enclave -- which is run by Islamists Hamas.

Mohammed al-Najjar, 40, from a nearby town, is still waiting for war-damaged his home to be rebuilt.

"I hope I find help to build a home like this," he said.

After being shown to the public the Shaath House building will eventually be demolished, as the owner wants to construct a family home.

Dutch artist Marjan Teeuwen uses art to make "order" out of the "one hundred percent chaos" of war at a house in the Gaza Strip pic.twitter.com/FBkcD12w7k

— AFP news agency (@AFP) December 18, 2016

Related Article:

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  8 - The End of War

The last one is the best. For thousands of years on this planet, Human Beings have warred with each other. If you take a look at the reasons they warred with each other, you will quickly see there aren't any good ones - land, resources, greed. Those are not reasons. That is a description of old energy. Those are not reasons. Reasons would be perhaps defense against an aggressor. But what if there is no longer the consciousness of the aggressor?

When I appeared in my partner's life more than 20 years ago, I said to him privately that the first messages we're going to give will be unbelievable. There would be laughter. We told him that Human nature and consciousness itself would change, and that the seeds of peace would be planted and there would come a time where there is no more war. Indeed, the laughter was great because humans look at history and they see patterns based on an absolute energy called Human Nature. "Impossible! There always has to be war. There always has been. Therefore, there always will be." This is you, in a box, in a black and white potential, where you can only see the black and white of what is and the black and white of what has been. You have no idea the shades of color that are there in your consciousness and the beauty of the love of God.

North Korea is on the edge of change, as we told you it might be. What did this require? The death of the old energy, and I want you to watch this take place. The advisors of the young leader are going to do their best to pull him back into an old energy. This free choice of his will be far different than his father, for he sees some color. Watch for these things. They'll take longer than you want, but it is the beginning of the beginning.

You'll see a fresh unification of South America sooner than not, for what is going to take place potentially this year in Venezuela. You'll see Iran changing. We have no clock. These are the potentials. These can change with free choice. These are not prophecies. This is a reality shift, dear ones, so number eight becomes the propensity not to war again. This is what Humans are going to want. This is what governments are going to want. There is a wisdom factor that will begin to happen on the planet that is grander than what you think is possible. For when you look at government, what do you think about? You see dysfunction, and there is an axiom that says the more people that try to do something together, the worse it gets. It all settles to the lowest common denominator. I'm telling you even those things are going to become old energy concepts. Instead, you're going to watch wisdom become the top potential.

I have no clock. I cannot tell you when. I can just tell you it is in the works, and there will be the seeds of it for you to observe soon - right now, in every single of the eight categories I showed you.

There are those who will say, "Well, Kryon, you're doing a lot more predictions than you used to." I want to tell you what's going on, dear one. I am not predicting anything. I am just telling you what's already there in the potential soup of your reality. That's what Humans are doing on this planet, and for those who believe this communication, you should breathe a sigh of relief and say, "It's about time." ….”