my light is your light...

minawi is, like his father and grandfather, a Palestinian refugee living in Lebanon and Amsterdam. The use of neon lights in art often refers to the way that mass media conveys messages. Alaa minawi has chosen to work with neon for a very different reason. Neon shines the same soft, serene light as
a fugitive, he says. According to the artist, people who have been forced to leave their homes exude a soft, gentle glow. His sculptures are made of white neon tubes that distri- bute an extremely delicate and almost silky substance, especially in the evenings.

These fragile light sources have another function. Although bent to resemble the shapes of human figures, you can only see their contours. They are ultimately hollow, much like a refugee, says minawi, someone who has not only left behind all his possessions but also his past and his image of the future. With only those things that he can carry on his shoulders, the refugee takes the risk to flee to a new country to start a new life; a new life where everything can be filled once again.