| Adjacent to the city of Nablus, Balata is the largest refugee camp in the West bank. It has 23,000 residents living on 0.7 square miles space. The physical environment is composed of three story concrete blocks with almost no space between them. The unemployment rate is 25% due to the lack of opportunity imposed by the situation of Israeli occupation.
Invited to create a community-based art project there in the summer of 2011, Barefoot Artists founding Director Lily Yeh worked with volunteer artists, leaders of the Balata Women Center, students of the Balata Girls’ School, and local participants to create a mural, The Palestinian Tree of Life. Reflecting residents’ deep pain and intense desire to go back to their homeland, the mural at the same time, through its subject matter, jubilant colors, and harmonious composition, expresses people’s longing for peace and determination to live in dignity.
Majdi Shella, our Palestinian coordinator, gave us these powerful words at the end of the project: "We must try to give something every day. We must continue to struggle for justice and human dignity through education, culture, and art, not only for Palestinians, but also for Israelis, and all the people in the world."
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