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After more than two years of repeated displacement, fear, and inhumane conditions, many people in Gaza are finding creative ways to make use of the little space and materials available to them. From sand sculptures to daily drawings, art has become both an act of resilience and a form of care for their communities. Artist Marah Khaled al-Za’anin transports people in her community to another place by transforming her tent in Gaza City into her own gallery, displaying her art on the walls and ceiling.
The 18-year-old was displaced from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza and found shelter in a tent at Al-Rimal school shelter run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the northern Gaza Strip. She revealed that she aims to turn her “harsh reality into a space for artistic expression.”
Al-Za’anin has loved drawing and painting since childhood, but in recent years she has turned to art more deeply as a way to process and express her own experiences, as well as those of the people around her. The young artist’s stark, monochrome works capture the harsh realities of daily life in Gaza, portraying scenes of hunger, loss, and resilience. “My brush and my paintings about the children of Gaza,” she writes, “who lived through hunger, fear, deprivation, loss, exhaustion, and the world’s indifference.”
Anyone staying near al-Za’anin’s tent is invited to come inside and admire her art. Support her work by following her on Instagram, and check out these Palestinian artists who organized a ‘Gaza Biennale’ as an act of resilience.
Marah Khaled al-Za’anin recently transformed her tent in Gaza City into her own gallery, displaying her drawings and paintings on the walls and ceiling.
View this post on Instagram
She was displaced from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza and found shelter in a tent at Al-Rimal school shelter.
View this post on Instagram
Al-Za’anin revealed that she aims to turn her “harsh reality into a space for artistic expression.”
View this post on Instagram
The young artist’s stark, monochrome works capture the harsh realities of daily life in Gaza, portraying scenes of hunger, loss, and resilience.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Marah Khaled al-Za’anin: Instagram
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Over 40 Palestinian Artists Organize ‘Gaza Biennale’ as an Act of Resilience [Interview]
