A visual dialogue across childhood and war.
by Mahmoud Abu Qaraya and tylerdurdan*
This project supports the family of Mahmoud Abu Qaraya in Gaza
If you wish, you can make a donation to help them.
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Context
Between Gaza and Naples is a photography project exploring parallel everyday life in Palestine and Italy through visual storytelling and installation.
Developed in collaboration with Mahmoud Abu Qaraya, a young phographer living in Gaza that now is my brother.
The project unfolds through parallel lives, where distance does not separate but reveals structure.
Statement
This is not a comparison.
It is a recognition.
One day, Soso and Dede will meet.
Visual sequence:
Exhibitions timeline
A project conceived to exist across spaces: Between Gaza and Naples unfolds as a visual dialogue that can be translated into different formats, from physical installations to digital environments.
Selected Spaces
Public debut — Ex Opg Occupato Festival, Naples
September 17–20, 2025
The first public presentation of Between Gaza and Naples took place at Ex Opg Occupato Festival in Naples, marking the beginning of the project’s exhibition path. Conceived as a visual dialogue between two childhoods, the work entered a shared public space where photography became testimony, relation and collective reflection.
Exhibition — Reclaim the Beat, Lido La Pola, Naples
September 26, 2025
Presented as part of Reclaim the Beat, Between Gaza and Naples. A Childhood Story unfolded as an urgent photographic intervention within a public and cultural context. Through parallel images, the work brings into dialogue two distant cities and two childhoods, revealing the fragility of everyday life under siege while affirming its resilience.
Screening — JSJC Media Conclave 7.0, Jindal School of Journalism & Communication, India
September 26–28, 2025
Shown at JSJC Media Conclave 7.0, Between Gaza and Naples moved into an international academic context, where the project was engaged as a visual and cultural inquiry. Through its parallel structure, the work opened a space for reflection on representation, conflict and the role of images in shaping collective understanding.
Exhibition — Kestè, Naples
October 22, 2025
At Kestè, Between Gaza and Naples re-entered the city as both subject and audience. In a close and informal setting, the project activated a direct encounter between images and viewers, where the distance between Gaza and Naples is momentarily suspended and reconfigured through shared attention.
Exhibition — South Market, Naples
November 2, 2025
At South Market, Between Gaza and Naples entered a dense and open public space. Surrounded by a large and continuous flow of visitors, the project shifted from intimate viewing to collective experience, where the images became part of a broader social landscape, amplifying their resonance and immediacy.
Exhibition — Dimora del Prete, Venafro
November 23, 2025
At Dimora del Prete, Between Gaza and Naples took shape as a space of encounter and responsibility. Beyond the exhibition, the project activated a collective moment through screening, participation and support, where images moved from representation to action, positioning culture as a form of resistance.
Exhibition — Bayna Festival, Naples, Italy
November 28–29, 2025
At Bayna Festival, Between Gaza and Naples entered a curated and collective framework, where the work was experienced alongside other cultural narratives. The festival context amplified its reach, allowing the project to resonate within a broader public discourse while reinforcing its role as a visual inquiry into childhood and conflict.
Screening & Talk — Scomodo Editorial Office, Milan, Italy
December 3, 2025
Presented within the editorial space of Scomodo, Between Gaza and Naples shifted into a discursive context, where the project was explored through dialogue and reflection. Here, the work moved beyond exhibition, positioning itself as part of an ongoing conversation on media, representation and the role of images in shaping collective awareness.
Exhibition — Santafeira Fest, Naples, Italy
December 5–7, 2025
At Santafeira Fest, Between Gaza and Naples entered a collective and open environment, where the work unfolded through continuous interaction with the public. Within this setting, the project consolidated its presence in Naples, positioning itself as an ongoing narrative that moves between contexts while maintaining a consistent critical focus.
Exhibition — Lazzarelle Bistrot, Naples, Italy
December 8, 2025
At Lazzarelle Bistrot, Between Gaza and Naples entered a domestic and relational space, shifting the experience of the work towards intimacy. Removed from large public contexts, the project found a different rhythm, where images could be observed, absorbed and reinterpreted through a slower and more personal engagement.
Exhibition & Talk — Ex Opg Occupato, Naples, Italy
December 27, 2025
At Ex Opg Occupato, Between Gaza and Naples was presented within a politically charged program focused on ecocide and colonial violence in southern Lebanon. The exhibition entered a space of testimony and collective discussion, where images were not only observed but activated as part of a broader discourse on land, conflict and resistance. Within this context, the project reaffirmed its position as a visual and political practice.
Screening — Can Batlló, Barcelona, Spain
January 29, 2026
At Can Batlló, Between Gaza and Naples moved into an international and socially engaged context. The screening format transformed the photographic work into a collective and time-based experience, allowing the project to circulate beyond its original geography and to resonate within a broader cultural landscape.
Screening — Tras. Lab, Naples, Italy
March 14, 2026
At Tras. Lab, Between Gaza and Naples re-entered Naples following its international trajectory, engaging with a context oriented towards research and cultural production. The project was presented as a time-based experience, where images unfolded through sequence and rhythm, allowing for a renewed and more conscious reading of the work.
Press
Selected articles and media coverage featuring the project and its development across visual research, photography and cultural context.
la Repubblica – 2026
“Soso e Dede: vite parallele tra Napoli e Gaza negli scatti di una mostra fotografica” — 2026
Elle – 2025
“Storie di bambine, infanzia da difendere e resistenza culturale, tra Gaza e Napoli”— 2026
Witness Journal – 2025
“Cosa significa restare umani in un luogo che brucia?”— 2025
Photo Journalism Hub – 2025
“Between Naples and Gaza. A Childhood Story Two distant cities, one childhood to defend” — 2025
The Documentary
“Between Gaza and Naples – A Childhood Story” traces the parallel lives of two young girls: Soso, growing up under siege in Gaza, and Dede, living her childhood in Naples.
Their everyday gestures, mirrored across borders, reveal a world fractured by war and privilege.
What began as one of the last photographic reportages to emerge from Gaza has evolved into an ongoing documentary — a visual dialogue between intimacy and resistance.
Shot between Southern Italy and Gaza, the project captures fragile moments of resilience amidst violence, exploring how childhood endures, or splinters, under radically different realities.
Currently presented as a 4-minute trailer, the film is a work in progress, developed under extraordinary circumstances as co-author Mahmoud Abu Al-Qaraya and his family flee south through Gaza and tylerdurdan*.
A parallel narrative
This work extends beyond photography.
Some of these stories continue in another form.
“Abbastanza”, a track from the album Secondo, intersects with this project through images filmed in Gaza by Mahmoud Abu Qaraya.
The footage was not staged.
It was recorded months after the song was written, documenting the displacement of a family forced to move south during the ongoing conflict.
What connects them is not direction, but coincidence.
Words written before the images existed later encountered real events already unfolding.
→ Watch the video
→ Explore Secondo
Abbastanza — Official Video
Filmed in Gaza by Mahmoud Abu Qaraya.
Music & lyrics by Raffaele Annunziata (tylerdurdan*).
This is not a separate work.
“Abbastanza” belongs to the same narrative.
The song was written in February.
The images were filmed months later in Gaza.
This video is not archival footage.
These images come directly from Gaza.
No staging.
No reconstruction.
Just a moment where language and reality met.
Authors
Mahmoud Abu Qaraya and Raffaele Annunziata aka tylerdurdan*
Mahmoud Abu Qaraya
Mahmoud Abu Qaraya is a young Palestinian photographer and documentarian, born and raised in Gaza.
Through his images, he tells the story of Palestinian daily life, capturing moments of resilience and beauty even in the most difficult times.
Raffaele Annunziata
Raffaele Annunziata is an Italian creative director and artist known as tylerdurdan* developing experimental music projects exploring artificial intelligence, rap and digital culture.
This project supports the family of Mahmoud Abu Qaraya in Gaza
If you wish, you can make a donation to help them.
Get in touch
For exhibitions, collaborations and editorial opportunities.