Feature: Gaza artist mimics ancient artifacts to preserve Palestinian heritage

The 55-year-old artist Nafez Aabed, who comes from western Gaza Strip, works on imitating artifacts back from ancient eras to help preserve heritage and civilizations of Palestine.

His wrokshop, a small and simply decorated room on the roof of his house in western Gaza, was named "the Workshop of the Mosaic Museum."

Ancient statues and wooden shelves take up most space of the room, where Aabed carves pieces of mosaic with various colors and shapes similar to that of the Byzantine, Greek and Romanian ages.

"I love and adore archaeology and I have earned 35 years of experience," Aabed, who has seven children tells Xinhua, adding that "my goal of imitating these carved pieces is to preserve heritage and civilizations that once upon a time lived on the land of Palestine."

"I work on four things: mosaic portraits, pottery jars, engraving on marbles and limestone, imitating ancient coins of the Greek, Byzantine and Islamic ages," Aabed says while carving rocks and marbles.

Aaded sometimes goes for a walk on the beach and picks up ancient archaeological pieces washed up on shore.

He says he likes collecting debris of ancient and archaeological artifacts all over the Gaza Strip which has been under an Israeli blockade for eight years.

These imitated sculptures and monuments were source of livelihood for him and his family, he says, adding that "but now the closure of crossing points and the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip have prevented tourists from coming here."

Over the past years, Aabed has never taken the artistic products outside the Gaza Strip, as he is afraid that the Israeli or the Egyptian authorities would accuse him of forging and smuggling these historical relics.

Aabed's workshop is also a shrine for some tourists, foreign diplomats and Palestinian businessmen, who come to see and buy his imitation products of archaeological pieces.

However, he says his business declined since Hamas violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

"Diplomats and delegations from Holland, the United States, Poland, France, Germany and Switzerland come to visit my workshop... some customers say these pieces were like real artifacts," Aabed said.

Abbed also calls on the Palestinian government and the United Nations UNESCO to take some measures to help preserve Palestinian's ancient heritage.

Aabed hopes to establish a special school in Gaza for making mosaic, adding that he is ready to help and provide all his experience to teach students in this field.

In 1995, Aabed was nominated as the deputy director of renovation of archaeological sites in the Palestinian ministry of antiquities and archaeology.

Salim al-Mubayed, a Gaza-based Palestinian historian, tells Xinhua that Aabed "is a creative person and one of the rare artists with high, unique and rare talent."

Israel has been imposing blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2007, and also waged three separate large-scale wars in 2008, 2012 and 2014, killing hundreds of Palestinians and causing large destruction of housing and infrastructure. Endit