Description

The Refugee Camp #11

Dimensions (30 X40) Cm – Acrylic on Canvas, 2024

“The Refugee Camp”
The camp wasn’t built to last forever; at best, it was a stop along the path of return.
The Am’ari camp, near the City of Ramallah, as a standalone urban unit, was UNRWA’s quick fix to house a few thousand Palestinian refugees after the 1948 War. They were granted 100-year lease contracts; it gave them a place to stay but poorly thought-out deadline to return home; those 100 years, or even until 2052 at the latest. In any case, the deadline wasn’t far, as hopes were pinned on a week or two for the return, or maybe a year or two.

After two or three generations, we now admit the naivety of it all.
Today, each generation of refugees builds their home above their ancestors’, creating a vertical timeline, showcasing the difference between the refugees’ descendants and their ancestors in their relationship with the camp; meaning architecture has become a visual translation of each generation’s approach to the idea of return.
From above, we see the colorful floors designed and built to be; while their fragile foundations remind us of the first refugee generation’s desperate journey in search of a safe haven.
The camp’s body may seem worn out, but its vibrant alleys generate life at its edges. Hence, I chose bright shades of pink, blue, and green; because the camp, in my view, is closer to portraying its vitality, chaos, and contradictions, represented in its prevailing social system.

Moreover, those who gaze at the camp see no more than an urban decay area deviating from its surroundings, choosing to ignore the root of the matter: Would any sane person initiate to fix a spot built to be temporary and transitory?

Read more about Alaa and explore his full collection.