Gaza Artist Paints From Rooftop of Destroyed Home
Palestinian artist turns rubble into memory. She paints from the rooftop of a home that was destroyed by the Israeli warplanes.
Her name is Janana Abu Harbeed. The Palestinian artist returned to northern Gaza and found her studio totally destroyed, but she promised herself that she would not be beaten and resumed her artwork on the rooftop of her family’s home in Gaza City.
Through her paintings, Abu Harbeed documents the experiences of displaced Palestinians and the suffering caused by the ongoing displacement, using art as a way to preserve stories and memories amid widespread destruction.
Visual artist Janna Abu Harbeed, 21, continues to pursue her passion for painting despite losing her father and younger brother, enduring repeated displacement, and having her home and all of her artwork destroyed during the war in Gaza. Janna began painting at the age of 10, but was forced to stop after the outbreak of the war before returning to art as a way to express hope and resilience amid the devastation.
Janna continues to paint in the courtyard of her destroyed home in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood, west of Gaza City. She also finds comfort at Gaza’s seashore, which offers her a rare sense of peace amid the harsh conditions. She says art is more than a hobby—it is a message that reflects the suffering of the Palestinian people and their determination to hold on to life. Janna dreams of exhibiting her work internationally to share her voice with the world, but the continued closure of Gaza’s border crossings has prevented her from achieving that dream. Her story embodies the determination of Palestinian youth to hold on to creativity and hope despite immense loss and destruction.
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