Efe Ozkan
16 July 2026•Update: 16 July 2026
The Mahmoud Darwish Museum in Ramallah, Palestine, will host a solo exhibition by Turkish artist A. Yusuf Aygec examining memory, displacement and loss in the context of the war in Gaza.
Titled “Posters to the Olive Tree of Exile,” the exhibition will run from July 26 to Aug. 2, with an opening reception scheduled for 2 pm local time (1100GMT) on July 26.
Organized with support from the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) and curated by Samed Karagoz, the exhibition brings together a series of drawings exploring personal and collective memory through themes of exile, mourning and resistance.
The exhibition reflects on the humanitarian consequences of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, focusing on the psychological and emotional impact of displacement rather than depicting scenes of violence.
The works use the olive tree as a recurring symbol of endurance, rootedness and resistance in Palestinian history and across the Mediterranean. Each drawing is presented as a symbolic “letter” addressed to the olive tree, emphasizing remembrance in the face of loss.
Organizers said the exhibition examines how art can function as a form of witnessing and preserving memory during conflict, arguing that the drawings serve as a visual archive against erasure.
Several pieces also reference the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish, the celebrated Palestinian poet after whom the museum is named. Organizers said exhibiting the collection at the Mahmoud Darwish Museum creates a dialogue between the artist’s visual works and Darwish’s literary exploration of exile, identity and homeland.
The exhibition previously debuted at London’s P21 Gallery before traveling to the Turkish city of Konya as part of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Youth Capital events.
