DORGHAM, 2024-2025
Fares Ayash
Photographs on Paper, Plaster Sculpture
ca. 100 x 50 cm (sculpture) | Original: cement; ca. 75 x 30 cm (sculpture

11 photographs, 15 x 20 cm each

4000 euro 

Sculpture produced in tandem with artist Paul DD Smith

Due to the current siege, shoes have taken on new significance in Gaza: months of forced displacement left many people with worn, broken shoes or no footwear at all. This reality is rarely covered by the news media. Over time, many people have come to rely on plastic shoes distributed by UNRWA. Brightly coloured and cheaply made, the shoes wear out quickly due to the demands of living through the genocide and constant displacements. These shoes are now commonly known in Gaza as al Dorgham (lion), which can also mean sturdy, strong, and resilient.

Taking inspiration from this footwear, a necessity that has in ways eased one small part of Gazans’ suffering, Fares Ayash created this sculpture of a ballerina dancing in broken Dorghams. He produced a maquette of this sculpture from cement so that artists from different Gaza Biennale Pavilions around the world could recreate it and spread the message: Gazans will dance on and no amount of violence or injustice will stop them.