An exhibition of paintings depicting the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories that was pulled by west Belfast's Cultúrlann following a complaint is to be shown next month at a new venue less than a mile away.
The Palestinian Paintings by self-imposed Israeli exile Zohar were due to be shown at the Cultúrlann on September 1 for two months.
However, as revealed by The Irish News, the artist learned last week that the show would not go ahead "due to an unspecified complaint from an unidentified person".
The Kazakhstan-born Jewish artist's travelling exhibition has already been shown across the north and in border counties, including the Cultúrlann in Derry's Bogside and the Market House Arts Centre in Monaghan.
The work depicts what Zohar terms the "ongoing fear, humiliation , horror and brutalism experienced by ordinary Palestinians on a daily, regular, recurring and current basis".
The 78-year-old classically-trained painter, who grew up in Israel and studied at the Belzalel Academy in Jerusalem, began the project in 2017 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War, in which Israeli forces captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
According to Interfaith for Palestine, the group that has sponsored the exhibition, the paintings will now go on show at Conway Mill in the Lower Falls from September 18.
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A spokesperson for the group said members were delighted to have "found an alternative location in the heart of west Belfast".
"The ordinary decent people will have the experience of the powerful impact of these sensitive and thoughtful representations of the daily suffering of Palestinian people," the Interfaith for Palestine spokesperson said.
"We are heartened by the support, empathic response, and generous grassroots welcome from a diverse range of people from the local communities in Belfast – Belfast people are good people."
In response to the recent suspension of Zohar's exhibition at the Cultúrlann, spoksperson McAdam Ó Fiaich said a complaint had been received from a member of the public "in relation to an exhibition scheduled for September".
"We are looking into the complaint and pending the result of our review, the exhibition has been suspended," he said.
Zohar has previously been commissioned to paint portraits of Princess Diana and former DUP Belfast lord mayor Lord Browne of Belmont.
