Launch of 'Picturing Scholasticide': Preserving knowledge, culture, and lives
Exhibition
After nine months of intense collaboration between staff and students at Leiden University and universities in Gaza, the 'Picturing Scholasticide' project has been launched. This exhibition visualises the destruction of Palestinian educational institutions.
Picturing Scholasticide is a multimodal initiative calling for urgent attention to the social and legal consequences of Israel’s systematic destruction of Palestinian institutions of higher education. The project consists of both a physical exhibition and a website. These show the impact of scholasticide, not only on material infrastructure, but also on knowledge, memory, culture, and freedom of thought.
Project launch
Despite a national train strike, around 100 people took part, both online and in person, including many who joined while celebrating Eid. The event was a powerful and deeply moving experience. The launch showed the strength of genuine human connection amid rubble, destruction, and death.
Heartfelt statements from colleagues in Gaza, including from those who tragically did not survive the war, ensured that their experiences were acknowledged and their voices heard. It added another layer to the gathering, making it clear that the attacks extend far beyond the classroom. They strike at the very heart of human dignity.
Academic solidarity in times of war
Solidarity with colleagues in need is not only important, it is essential to the preservation of academic freedom and critical thinking worldwide, both of which are under increasing pressure. That is why the team was determined to present the exhibition within a university that upholds freedom as a core value. This, however, was not without challenges. With the support of a committed group of students, a space was eventually secured in the so-called Kunstgang inside the Lipsius building.
One side of the wall displays the physical devastation: all Gazan universities have been damaged beyond repair or even blown to pieces. The other side reveals the emotional toll, most vividly illustrated through a months-long text message exchange between two project participants: one able to teach, conduct research, and travel freely; the other silenced, unable to teach anymore, and trapped between walls and the sea.
Visit the exhibition
Interested in reading the scholars' stories first-hand? And learn more about scholasticide? You can find more information on the website.
The exhibition will run in the Lipsius building until Friday 13 June.
'Picturing Scholasticide' was made possible with funding from a Leiden KIEM grant.