Gaza treasures on display in Paris trigger mixed emotions against a background of war

Curators say the world must continue talking about Gaza as it watches its heritage being eroded

After more than 2,000 years beneath the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Gaza, a statue of a Greek goddess stands today in a Paris museum, her gaze cast downwards, one hand resting on her hip. The stunning figure, draped in delicate, translucent marble robes and bearing the marks of centuries underwater, was discovered by chance two decades ago by a Palestinian fisherman.

Now, the statue – one of the few items salvaged from a private museum obliterated by Israeli tanks – serves as a poignant reminder of a people whose history is threatened with destruction. Scholars believe it represents either Aphrodite, the goddess of love, or Hecate, associated with the fleeting moment before dawn.

For Elodie Bouffard, exhibition curator at the Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA) in the French capital, she is a powerful symbol of Gaza's resilience. "It's incredibly moving to think that, despite the dramatic living conditions in Gaza, a fisherman recognised the importance of preserving this statue," Ms Bouffard told The National during a guided tour.

Resistance on stage

The exhibition, Treasures saved from Gaza – 5,000 years of history, runs until November alongside a photographic display of Lebanon. It has steered deep emotions among organisers, including 85-year old Jean-Baptiste Humbert, a former head of the archaeology department of the French biblical and archaeological school in Jerusalem. He spearheaded archaeological excavations in Gaza around the time of the Oslo accords in 1994, until 2012.

Some of his discoveries – antique amphoras, oil lamps and other relics – have been exposed. Yet Mr Humbert, who was hired as scientific adviser for the exhibition, expressed discomfort about showcasing these artefacts amid Gaza's suffering. Paying homage to its people is important, he said, but it must not be used to conceal the world's inability to stop the killings.

"It's a strange feeling," he said. "I'm the first to say that it's indecent to show archaeological objects that may give us a sense of aesthetic or emotional satisfaction when we know that the people of Gaza are suffering inordinately."

The exhibition's timing is fraught with political significance. "This is not something I want to conceal, at a time when the US President contends that he can transform Gaza into a riviera," said IMA chairman Jack Lang. He was referring to Donald Trump's plan to forcibly remove Gazans and build a Mediterranean resort on the land, in breach of international law.

Mr Trump is a strong ally of the hard-right Israeli government, whose members have called on purging Gaza of its Palestinians residents by transferring them to Jordan. Some Israeli ministers also deny Palestinian claims to the land.

"No, the history of Gaza will not be thrown to the sea and handed over to Trump," Mr Lang said. "This is an act of resistance."

Israel has killed more than 1,000 Gazans since a ceasefire brokered in March collapsed two weeks ago, the UN says. The death toll in Gaza currently exceeds 50,500, a year and a half after about 1,200 Israelis were killed in Hamas-led attacks.

Objects in exile

The exhibition is the outcome of a nearly 20-year administrative headache for the Museum of Art and History of Geneva. In 2006, it borrowed 200 artefacts from the Palestinian Authority, and 260 more from the private collection of entrepreneur Jawdat Khoudary.

For years, their return was hampered by security and political developments in Gaza, as well as logistical issues. In June 2023, it looked close to working out, but then the October 7 attacks took place, ending any hope of a homecoming.

Gaza now lies in ruin, with close 70 per cent of its infrastructure destroyed. "Paradoxically, the fact that they [the artefacts] were unable to leave saved part of this heritage," said Beatrice Blandin, the museum's curator.

During their 19-year stay in Switzerland, the artefacts have been lent to museums in Germany, Sweden and now France. But otherwise, the pensive Greek goddess exhibited at IMA lies in a crate at Geneva Freeport. Her survival is "a miracle", Mr Khoudary, who lives in Cairo, told French daily newspaper Le Monde.

Other objects on display at IMA originate from archaeological sites that have been heavily damaged by Israeli shelling. They include Anthedon harbour and Mukheitim funerary complex in Jabaliya. The 1954 Hague Convention, signed in part by Israel, prohibits the destruction of cultural property in the event of an armed conflict.

Situated at a historic crossroad between Europe and Asia, Gaza has a rich yet under-researched archaeological history. "We can only imagine all that lies there, undiscovered," Ms Bouffard said.

The objects' unexpected survival has given rise to mixed feelings among the exhibition's Palestinian scenographers, brothers Elias and Yousef Anastas. "It's very odd to have to think about archaeological pieces during a genocide," Elias said.

Widely used in the Arab world, the term "genocide" to describe Israel's war against Gaza was found to be "plausible" last year by the International Court of Justice but is disputed by Israel and most of its western allies.

Yet the brothers, from Bethlehem, also thought it important to contribute to the promotion of Gaza's historical legacy, which is at risk of disappearing. "These artefacts have been exiled in Europe, so we designed the exhibition to resemble a storage room, with objects mounted on wheeled carts that can be easily moved," Elias said.

A passionate advocate of Gaza's culture, Ms Bouffard said she could understand why some describe the exhibition as "indecent". But museums such as IMA, which two years ago ran an exhibition titled What Palestine brings to the world, must continue pushing back against the erasure of Palestinian identity, she said. "The idea is to have an exhibition that is alive with conferences and artists, not stuck in looking back at the past. In their scenography, Elias and Yousef have introduced the idea of displacement."

Touchstone to the past

Protecting heritage gives people a stronger sense of identity and belonging, said Sandra Bialystok, communications director at the Aliph Foundation, a UAE-French led initiative to safeguard cultural heritage in times of conflict that supported the exhibition.

"It's a touchstone to the past. It's a way forward for the future," Ms Bialystok told The National. "If you think about it, what do people reach for when there's an emergency, when your house is on fire? It's photos. And if you don't, if they're not preserved, then you feel like you have a loss of your family's history."

For Gaza connoisseurs such as Mr Humbert, it's a discussion that elicits expressions of barely contained anger. "I've received so much attention over this exhibition," he said. "The media like to talk about Gaza. But maybe talking about old stones is a way to not discuss the rest. It's an escape."

France, an EU member, says it disapproves of Israel's war on Gaza but its diplomatic efforts to end it have yielded no result. As a bloc, the EU views Israel as an important ally and has refused to sanction it by cutting off trade links, despite requests by Spain and Ireland.

Mr Humbert said he would rather the thousands of objects he stored in Gaza be destroyed than participate in their illegal removal to Israel. Shortly after the start of the war, high-ranking Israeli officials approached him to offer to move the artefacts to Jerusalem, he said. "It would have been a serious diplomatic and political mistake. We can't be complicit in the removal of Palestinian heritage to Israel."

A video uploaded on social media by the director of Israeli antiquities, with "WOW" written across it in capital letters, showed the building had been heavily damaged.

Mr Humbert believes the Israelis thought they had stumbled on a stash of artefacts destined to be sold on the black market, before realising the labels were written in French. Though under French guardianship, the objects belong to the Palestinian Authority.

What preoccupies Mr Humbert now is what will happen when the war ends. Many undiscovered treasures still lie off the coast of Gaza, where shallow waters have caused the wreckage of countless ships over thousands of years.

In 2014, a 2,500-year-old, two-metre tall bronze statue of Greek god Apollo made headlines after it vanished shortly after it was pulled from the sea by a Gaza fisherman.

"What will happen when they throw all the rubble from the war into the sea? It'll be a disaster," Mr Humbert said. Should that happen, the remaining Apollos, Aphrodites and Hecates will be crushed forever.