art and words dedicated to the children of Palestine

Letters for Palestinian childhoods

is an online and in-person travelling exhibition of letters, poems, and artwork dedicated to the children of Palestine.

It aims to counter dehumanising narratives about Palestinians, showing solidarity by attending to the names, stories, experiences, dreams, and struggles of Palestinian children and the actions of the Western-backed Israeli state which are so violently shaping their lives.

January 21, 2024

Dear Lama

You remind me of myself;

our skin tone similar,

our mother tongue similar in origin.

I grieve when I wonder;

What was I doing at 9 years old?

And how by arbitrary chance,

our lives are not similar at all.

I am in awe of

the eloquent force of your reporting.

My prayers are a request that we hear

good news soon.

Yasmeen (Sudan/UK)

عزيزتي لمى،

تذكرينني بنفسي؛

لون بشرتنا متشابه،

لغتنا الأم متشابهة في الأصل.

أحزن عندما أتساءل؛

ماذا كنت أفعل في سن 9 سنوات؟

وكيف بفضل الصدفة العشوائية،

لا تتشابه حياتنا على الإطلاق.

أنا مندهشة من

قوة تقاريرك البليغة.

أدعي أن نسمع

أخبار جيدة قريبًا.

Translated from English > Arabic by Maria Guirguis Gadelkarim, UCL (UK)

Image: Lama, Yasmeen and Loulou’s sunflower

Created by Carla Stephan (Lebanon/UK)