Voices from Gaza showcases the compelling work of Laila Shawa, an artist whose practice bore witness to the violence, erasure, and steadfast spirit of her homeland. Born in Gaza, Shawa spent decades transforming the pain of occupation into urgent visual language. Her work remains a profound act of resistance, testimony, and remembrance.
On view throughout the summer at Contemporary Art Platform (CAP) Kuwait, the exhibition features key works from the CAP Collection, including Shawa’s acclaimed Walls of Gaza II series. These pieces echo the literal walls of Gaza, inscribed with graffiti, slogans, and symbols of resistance, marks made by those rendered voiceless. Shawa translated these ephemeral traces into works that resonate far beyond the borders that confine them.
Her aesthetic – layered, forceful, and exacting – melds veiled figures, ornamental motifs, political iconography and everyday objects transformed by war. In doing so, she traces the outlines of a people under siege, but never erased. From questions of exile and memory to the politics of visibility, Shawa’s work articulates what history tries to bury.
2013. Courtesy of CAP Kuwait.
At a moment when Gaza is once again being reduced to rubble, this exhibition stands as both tribute and provocation. It honours the persistence of cultural memory, the endurance of a people, and the power of art to speak when speech is impossible. In Shawa’s hands, resistance is not only political, it is visual, intimate, and impossible to ignore.
Location: Contemporary Art Platform (CAP) Kuwait
Date: Summer 2025