Artwork honouring children killed in Gaza wins major award

Diane Williams with her artwork

A powerful artwork honouring hundreds of children killed in Gaza has won the public vote at this year's National Eisteddfod art exhibition.

The Josef Herman Award - The People's Choice was awarded to Diane Williams from Ynys Môn for the emotional work - a child's nightdress embroidered with the names of 300 children who did not attain the age of one in Gaza - displayed at Y Lle Celf, the National Eisteddfod's art exhibition.

The award is given to the most popular piece of work, or collection, in the open exhibition with all eisteddfodwyr attending given the opportunity to cast their vote during their visit to Y Lle Celf.

Accepting the award Diane said: "Creating the piece was a very emotional experience as I recorded 300 names of babies who did not reach their one year old in Gaza. A very small percentage of the children who have been killed mercilessly.

"I felt some moral obligation to create the work in order to encourage conversation and engagement with the reality of the horrors that happen there on a daily basis.

"The response from the audience to the uniform shows that we are a caring nation, full of empathy and love and I am very proud to say that the money will go to MAP, Medical Aid for Palestine."

20,179 children are known to have been killed in Gaza. Many more are missing. As on September 2025 there were over 4,000 child amputees.

In August last year, on the eve of the Feast of the Assumption, Cardinal Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna and president of the Italian Bishops' Conference, led a vigil in which he read the names of 12,211 Palestinian children and 16 Israeli children killed in the conflict since October 7, 2023. The event lasted approximately seven hours.