Blood Money

Artist Laila Shawa (Palestinian, born 1940)

Date1994

MediumLithography on paper

DimensionsImage: 15 × 23 in. (38.1 × 58.4 cm) Sheet: 15 × 19 11/16 in. (38.1 × 50 cm) Framed: 24 × 32 1/8 × 1 3/8 in. (61 × 81.6 × 3.5 cm)

Credit LinePurchased through the Legler Benbough Student Acquisition Fund by Tanya Al Saleh, Rosie Furr, Carly Kamei, and Erica Warner.

CulturePalestinian

InscribedTitle: bottom center, "Blood Money" Edition: "8/50."

PortfolioWall of Gaza II

Object numberPC2019.20

ClassificationsPrint Collection

DescriptionIn this lithograph, Laila Shawa develops a personal reflection concerning the politics of her country, particularly highlighting perceived injustices and political realities. The written word--evident in this piece--represents heartbreaking messages of hope and resistance spray-painted by the people of Gaza on the walls of their city, as an act to resist Israeli censorship. In Gaza, graffiti on the wall was the only method available to Palestinians to communicate with one another. The Israeli occupiers banned any form of media in Gaza, such as newspapers radio, or television. The writing is cursive, spontaneous, and hurried. It changed rapidly to communicate individuals on the events that occur daily. This piece was made first by obtaining a photograph of neighborhoods in Gaza during the Intifada period, then translated through silkscreen techniques.

By layering the motifs, Shawa portrays the underlying messages that each one identifies. In the background, there is an image of a wall with fragmented and coded messages of an ongoing conversation. In front of the wall, there is rubble laying on the floor. Shawa places a second layer of twenty-four red dollar bills above the background--there are four $100 bills, four $5 bills, and sixteen $1 bills arranged in grid-format spontaneously.

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