On October 7, Hamas kidnapped my great uncle Amiram Cooper and his wife Nurit from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Nurit was released from captivity after 17 days. As of this writing, Amiram is still being held hostage. Amiram is a published poet, songwriter and composer. If you press the buttons on the display it will play his song “Shiboley Paz“ about the wheat harvest. The second button plays his song “Shemesh Shel Yom” which was covered by famed Israeli Singer Micha Shitrit. The song is about the sun shining down over the land. My artwork depicts Amiram sitting in a Hamas tunnel alone and stripped of his identity. On the inside of the tunnel there are the names of all of my family members who perished in the holocaust. On the other side are the names of the 134 hostages still in Hamas captivity. The outside of the tunnel is like a hug surrounding Amiram with pictures of our family history. It also features some of his beloved poetry and writings. The red Kalaniyot are the national flower of the State of Israel. They grow right next to Nir Oz. The single yellow buttercup flower, called “Nurit” in Hebrew, is in honor of my great aunt Nurit. The color yellow is symbolic of the hostages. The dew drops on the flowers incorporate my name Talia, which translates to “Dew from Gd”. The dew also represents the cycle of life: tears of sadness and of joy. The flowers symbolize that our roots are strong. No matter what, we will always bloom! Generations of my family have lived through atrocities like: Pogroms in Ukraine and Poland, the Shoah, the Soviet Gulags and now October 7th. The tunnel is left open with a light at the end to represent that no matter what horrific things the Jewish people face, we must always have hope. Our light will never be extinguished.
