Gaza Conversations: Persistence, Resistance, Renewal

Rajie Cook is an internationally known graphic designer, photographer and artist. In 1984, he received the Presidential Award for Design Excellence. In 2003, his firm’s project, “Symbols Signs,” was accepted to the collections of the Smithsonian Institution. Inspired in part by the work of Joseph Cornell, Cook’s sculptural assemblages have been widely exhibited. The “Boxes” he has created articulate the circumstances and experiences he encountered in Palestine through his travels with the Task Force for the Middle East, a group sponsored by the Presbyterian Church, USA. “I felt it was important for me to create public awareness…to sensitize my audiences that peace with justice is a must in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.”

Helen Zughaib was born in Beirut, Lebanon and lived in the Middle East and Europe. She received her BFA from Syracuse University. Her paintings, gouache and ink on board, are included in over 80 public and private collections, including the White House and the Arab American National Museum in Detroit, Michigan. She was recently appointed U.S. Cultural Envoy to the West Bank. The “Witness” series and three additional pieces “showing the resilience of women” reflect her determination that people not forget the devastation of Gaza in 2008-09.