Gaza International Airport

Like an animal skull in a carcass, Gaza’s dilapidated airport terminal rises up in Elkept’s work. Here in the calm of Slottsparken, we are reminded of the bitter struggles the Palestinian people have been subjected to for decades. When Elkept himself stood in front of the gaping emptiness of the ruins, he felt both pain and nostalgia. It was as if he wanted to embrace the debris and with his body and art rebuild the airport. In an animal cranium, he saw the drastic similarity of decay.

The airport was the result of the hopeful 1995 Oslo Accords between Israel and Palestine. The airport was inaugurated in 1998 and was to be the Gaza people’s door to the world. But a few years later, the fragile peace collapsed and Israel bombed the terminal and dug up the runways.

Elkept grew up in a Gaza of unrest. Through his art, he exposes the consequences of the conflicts for completely innocent people.