Sister Aziza and Sylvana’s story

On Thursday, when we honored Sister Aziza, she and her friends visited the "Violence Against Women" exhibition in the Oasis Art Gallery, accompanied by Dyana Shaloufi Rizek, who curates the museum. Among the paintings there was one of Sylvana Tsegai, a 12-year old girl originally from Eritrea, who was found murdered in November 2018. Sister Aziza and her friends were shocked to see the painting, since they had known the girl and met her the day before her death. "She was only a girl" said Sister Aziza.

Sylvana had been a member of the Kuchinate African Refugee Women’s cooperative and volunteered in preparations for the Tel Aviv demonstration on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. She helped to make the pink hats that were worn at the demonstration, at which Sister Aziza met her. The following day, she was found murdered. The suspected killer, a former partner of Sylvana’s mother, was apprehended soon after.

Sylvana was one of two teenage girls murdered within one 24 hour period, the other being a 16 year old Palestinian girl (Yara Ayoub) in the Galilee. The murders were followed by a general strike and a huge protest against gender violence. The children at our primary school learned about the events and made a protest of their own, and Samah Salaime helped to organizethe main demonstration in Tel Aviv.

The painting of Sylvana was done by artist Laila Sarah Mazer, at the request of Dyana. She based it on the photo that had appeared in all the newspapers after her death.

The exhibition, "Violence Against Women" at the Oasis Art Gallery will be extended for another month, so there is still time to see it. Stories like the one with Sister Aziza bring home to us the importance of the exhibition, and the small world shared by activists for change.

About the exhibition