Posters to the Olive Tree of Exile

Supported by Yunus Emre Enstitüsü, and presented by P21 Gallery Posters to the Olive Tree of Exile, a solo exhibition by Turkish artist A. Yusuf Aygeç, will be on view from 15 to 30 January 2026 at P21 Gallery, 21-27 Chalton Street, London NW1 1JD, UK. Curated by Samed Karagöz, the exhibition foregrounds the power of art to preserve memory and bear witness—particularly in the aftermath of Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza since October 2023, destruction widely described by international human rights organisations as “genocidal in nature.”

In Aygeç’s works, the line itself touches the fragile layers of both personal and collective memory. Displacement, loss, mourning, and resistance emerge not as direct representations of violence, but as a quiet, resonant light shaping the artist’s aesthetic language.

Each drawing becomes a letter—not addressed to an individual, but to the olive tree, a symbol of endurance and resistance throughout the histories of the Mediterranean and Palestine. This conceptual framework is also reflected clearly in the texts accompanying the exhibition.

Since October 2023, Gaza has witnessed the destruction of entire neighbourhoods, the displacement of hundreds of thousands, and the systematic targeting of civilians. This period has been defined by many across the international community as a crime against humanity and an act of genocide.

Aygeç’s works do not attempt to visually recreate this devastation; instead, they make visible the psychological and emotional reverberations of such rupture. The drawings stand as a visual archive against erasure—an aesthetic field of resistance that insists on remembering when forgetting becomes a political tool.

Many works echo lines from the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish, the Palestinian “national poet.” Throughout the exhibition, these verses resonate like wind passing through branches, creating a subtle memory-line between Darwish’s words and Aygeç’s images.

Posters to the Olive Tree of Exile underscores the role of art as an ethical space of witnessing in the face of the ongoing humanitarian disaster resulting from Israel’s attacks on Gaza after 2023. The exhibition invites viewers not merely to observe a tragedy, but to remember and remind—to resist the mechanisms through which history attempts to erase lives, stories, and landscapes.

The exhibition opening reception will take place on 15 January 2026 18:00-20:00. Click here to RSVP