Handala

His back turned to the world, but his eyes wide open on history.

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I wanted to bring to the walls of Lamezia Terme the figure of Handala, the child created in 1969 by Naji al-Ali, the best known Palestinian cartoonist. He is ten years old, the same age his creator was when he left his homeland, and he will never grow older: he stays a child until he can go home.

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Handala turns his back on us, hands clasped behind him. He does not show his face, and precisely for this reason he forces anyone looking at him to look instead at what he is looking at. That back has become a symbol of resistance, dignity and unconditional witness.

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Painting him here means turning a wall into a bridge of memory and awareness.

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We interviewed Miles: watch the interview on Instagram