Gaza: Despite the limited space observers and artists gathered for the opening of the first Iranian art gallery in the Palestinian territories.
The Iranian flag was on display at the ‘Greetings to the Resistance' gallery. The show is part of the Iranian festival of resistance.
Most of the paintings represented the Palestinian resistance and the occupation.
Attendees praised the Iranian artists for their efforts in portraying the suffering of Palestinians.
Ahmad Jad Allah, a third-year university student said: "These paintings are nice and full of meaning and relate to our culture and what we see."
The images are similar to the ones done by Palestinian artists. Injustice, pain and pride are dominant themes. However, Iranian artists tend to use colour while Palestinian artists usually work in black and white.
Wissam Abed, a Palestinian artist said: "The Palestinian cause is global and many are united for it. The differences lay more in the fine detail."
Rocks
Objects and characters related to the Palestinian cause such as rocks and Israeli soldiers feature in the images.
Abed added: "Because of the Palestinian circumstances, most art describing the Palestinian cause is patriotic and national. Hence, I respect any artist showing his solidarity with our cause through his paintings and this is what we can obviously see in these paintings."
None of the Iranian artists could physically make it to the Gaza Strip but they still managed to communicate with the audience and their fellow Palestinian artists via the internet.
Festival directors Dr Habib Allah Sadeghi and Reza Khazaeli, communicated with the gallery's attendees via an internet video call from Tehran.
The director of the international youth and freedom documentary film festival in Gaza, Reyad Shahin, brought the paintings while visiting the Islamic Republic of Iran last month.
Shanin said: "This is the first cultural effort made by Iran but there are plans for other art galleries, plays and documentary displays in the future. We are used to the support of Iran. This is another style of support that Iran gives to the Palestinian people."
