An extremely interesting article about those still in Guantamo & their art - which they may now not be allowed to keep. It seems the spiteful cruelties of the Trump era may remain in place.
Some of their work is just beautiful.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62399826
[b]"A few weeks ago, Khalid Qasim got some news he'd been waiting 20 years for. He had been cleared for release from the prison at Guantanamo Bay.[/b]
[b]By that point, Qasim had been in Guantanamo nearly half his life, aged 23 to 43. Like almost all the men sent there, he has never been charged with a crime.[/b]
His release order does not mean freedom, yet. It is merely the starting gun on a long process of resettlement that, going by previous resettlements, could take years. Where he will be sent, neither he nor his lawyers know.
[b]While he waits, Qasim will paint.
[/b]
[b]During his long detention, Qasim has created scores of intricate paintings and other artworks, from seascapes, to scenes of fire, to a series of lone candles that commemorate the men who died in Guantanamo.[/b]
[b]Qasim rarely puts Guantanamo on canvas in a literal sense. He is drawn to images of the sea, to images of ships and trees. He paints abstracts in vivid colours and still life scenes with deep blacks and dark expanses. He has used coffee and gravel from the exercise yard to create textures and ready-to-eat meal boxes to make mixed-media work.[/b]
"This is my life," Qasim said, of his art. "It was my life here."
But when Qasim is transferred out of Guantanamo, in months or years, he will not, as things stand, be allowed to take his art. It will remain the property of the US government, which may store or destroy it.
Keeping his art in Guantanamo would be "the same as keeping me here", Qasim said.
[b]"The art I made is me," he said. "If they keep my art here, my soul will stay here."
[/b]
Some of their work is just beautiful.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62399826
[b]"A few weeks ago, Khalid Qasim got some news he'd been waiting 20 years for. He had been cleared for release from the prison at Guantanamo Bay.[/b]
[b]By that point, Qasim had been in Guantanamo nearly half his life, aged 23 to 43. Like almost all the men sent there, he has never been charged with a crime.[/b]
His release order does not mean freedom, yet. It is merely the starting gun on a long process of resettlement that, going by previous resettlements, could take years. Where he will be sent, neither he nor his lawyers know.
[b]While he waits, Qasim will paint.
[/b]
[b]During his long detention, Qasim has created scores of intricate paintings and other artworks, from seascapes, to scenes of fire, to a series of lone candles that commemorate the men who died in Guantanamo.[/b]
[b]Qasim rarely puts Guantanamo on canvas in a literal sense. He is drawn to images of the sea, to images of ships and trees. He paints abstracts in vivid colours and still life scenes with deep blacks and dark expanses. He has used coffee and gravel from the exercise yard to create textures and ready-to-eat meal boxes to make mixed-media work.[/b]
"This is my life," Qasim said, of his art. "It was my life here."
But when Qasim is transferred out of Guantanamo, in months or years, he will not, as things stand, be allowed to take his art. It will remain the property of the US government, which may store or destroy it.
Keeping his art in Guantanamo would be "the same as keeping me here", Qasim said.
[b]"The art I made is me," he said. "If they keep my art here, my soul will stay here."
[/b]
in order to be old & wise, you must first be young & stupid. (I'm still working on that.)
