Milan, mural appears with Simpsons becoming Palestinians torn apart by bombs in Gaza

The Simpsons, Matt Groening’s famous American cartoon family (which is also the longest-running sitcom in TV history), becomes a family from Gaza massacred by bombs. The mural by aleXsandro Palombo depicting the Palestinian Simpsons family is entitled Gaza : a pop artwork created in the past few hours in Milan, in Via Padova, a few meters from the House of Muslim Culture, in the symbolic neighborhood of multiethnic Milan.

The image represents a provocative reinterpretation of the religious iconography of the Pieta, typically depicting the Madonna with the body of the dead Jesus in her arms. In the mural, Homer Simpson wears symbols associated with the Palestinian cause, such as the keffiyeh and the sash with the colors of the flag of Palestine, while holding the body of his dead son Bart, with the rest of the Simpson family at his feet, also torn apart by bombs and bleeding.

This play is intended to offer an intense snapshot of the horrors of the war in Gaza, inviting reflection on human rights violations and opposition to the slaughter of innocent Palestinians and the brutality of war. The war began on Oct. 7 with a vicious Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,200 Israeli civilians and the kidnapping of 240 hostages. In response, Israel conducted a military operation in Gaza, resulting in the loss of more than 30,000 Palestinian lives, including many women and children. The work is intended to recall the tragedies experienced by many Palestinian families as a result of the ongoing conflict in the region, and the choice to use characters from one of the public’s most beloved cartoons in such a politically and religiously charged context is intended to generate mixed reactions and raise issues related not only to current events, but also related to the representation of the sacred image and the use of art as a form of protest or social expression.

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Artist aleXsandro Palombo stages the horror of this conflict that we see reflected in the shocking images constantly disseminated through our devices. This war affects mostly innocent children and women. Palombo dwells on the pain and violence that does not spare the civilian population, depicting death as an inexorable and desperate stillness. Even Homer’s tears can no longer fall, becoming trapped in the silence of death; the cries of terror of children, such as Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, are now extinguished. Although no weapons are visible in the work, the bodies show signs of gunfire: someone shot, someone killed, perhaps following orders, as in the horrific massacre a few days ago, when more than 100 Palestinians were killed as they stood in line for food, oppressed by hunger and despair. “If at first glance the work leads us to feel feelings of horror and participation,” reads a note, “later all this is overcome by something much stronger: fear. aleXsandro Palombo tells us that we must be afraid. Fear of finding ourselves in Homer Simpson’s place, fear of war and inhumanity.”

Milan, mural appears with Simpsons becoming Palestinians torn apart by bombs in Gaza

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