Echoes of Resistance opens in Philadelphia

The interactive exhibit Echoes of Resistance, created to highlight the many ways that the movement in Philadelphia has mobilized for Palestine over recent decades, finally opened on June 19 at Studio 34 in West Philadelphia to a diverse and welcoming audience. The exhibit, organized by the Philadelphia Palestine Coalition (PPC), featured the work of photographers Mike Arrison and Joe Piette, and videographer Sunny Singh, and was coordinated by Noor Qutyan.

The exhibit — through photographs, videos, signs, banners, and props — centers Palestinian martyrs and resistance, including armed resistance, “through Philadelphia’s own history of amplifying and mobilizing around the call for a liberated Palestine,” according to the brochure explaining the event.

A large, room-sized map of historic Palestine before 1948 covered most of the floor in one room. An eight-foot tall puppet of Handala, the character created by Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali, symbol of the Palestinian struggle and resistance to occupation, stood in another room, where multiple banners used in recent protests hung from the ceiling and walls.

Banners and photographs highlighting entire villages that had been wiped out by Israeli occupation and expansion hung on the walls of the stairway leading to the exhibit. Bloodied press vests and hospital gowns were displayed along one wall.

It was opposition to the stairwell displays and fake blood that caused the exhibit to delay its scheduled June 5 opening. Despite an agreement made a year ago to host the exhibit, management at Studio 34 asked organizers to “scale back” the art displayed two days before June 5, claiming, under the guise of inclusivity, that these visuals would be trauma-inducing.

Event organizers pushed back, asking, “whose trauma was centered and whose was censored?” A handout from the PPC raised that “Palestinians, as well as Black, Afrikan, Indigenous, SWANA [Southwest Asian and North African], and immigrant peoples, are constantly subjected to images of people who look like them being murdered, maimed and maligned in a mainstream media that constantly manufactures consent for these atrocities and minimized our humanity.  We do not get the luxury of covering up our blood or pretending like it doesn’t exist as long as we cannot see it.

“For many who have faced the daily trauma of seeing Palestinian people brutalized and slaughtered, not only since October 2023, but since the inception of Zionism, art like this acknowledges Palestinian trauma in a way that offers the opportunity for collective healing.”

PPC noted, “We envision this installation as a small tribute to the resistance against genocide, and we refuse to sanitize, minimize, or censor any part of it for the sake of so-called civility.”

The exhibit, which runs through Aug. 2, features a variety of programs and cultural events open to the public. A full schedule can be found on Instagram at @Phillypalestinecoaltion. Tickets for events can be purchased at www.studio34yoga.com/art-events. All proceeds from ticket sales will be split between Palestinian and Sudanese mutual aid.