MAISARA BAROUD
Maisara Baroud is a visual artist who was born in Gaza in 1976. He has worked as a university lecturer at the College of Fine Arts at Al-Aqsa University in Gaza. Baroud earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Al-Najah National University in Nablus (1998) and a Master of Fine Arts from the College of Fine Arts in Zamalek, Cairo (2011).
Baroud has participated in numerous local and international group exhibitions in Palestine, France, the United States, Japan, Italy, Russia, Canada, Qatar, Egypt, Algeria, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Kuwait, India, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Spain.
He has also held seven solo exhibitions: “I Am Still Alive” (2024) at Zawyeh Gallery in Ramallah, followed by exhibitions in America and Finland, “Rubble” (2021) at the French Cultural Institute in Gaza, “Existence” (2021), an online exhibition on Art Scoops in Lebanon, “Boats of Salt” (2019) in Bethlehem, “White Phosphorus for the Birth of Elia” (2009) at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo, followed by exhibitions in Algeria and Gaza, “A Flash of Glitter” (2009) in Algeria, and “Rita and the Rifle” (2004) in Gaza.
Baroud’s art practice is characterized by a black-and-white dichotomy. Employing unique techniques, he endeavors to capture the essence of suffering through a human lens in his artworks. It serves as an aesthetic expression depicting the universal struggles faced by people globally, with a particular focus on Palestinian suffering. His works delve into themes such as wars, immigration, political prisoners, and illegal detention.
Baroud’s artworks are infused with emotions ranging from grief, sadness, and violence to notions of peace, hope, and freedom. They strive to portray a life intertwined with constant cycles of both death and survival. Maisara Baroud lives and works in Gaza.
“Since the beginning of the war on Gaza on October 7th 2023, I have made sure to stay in touch with friends as much as possible, to reassure them through my daily life and the drawings I share on social media. I document the war through my eyes and my brush in all its details. My drawings have been my way of telling my friends, ‘I am still alive.’
Through my daily entries, I have chronicled stories of destruction, loss, death, weakness, displacement, hunger, pain, patience, resilience, and brokenness. In my works, I expressed the story beyond the official propaganda narrative. It is the story of war that produces a tremendous capacity for harm, conquering distance, geography, and even the speed of sound to bring death to more people in less time.
The occupation destroyed everything beautiful in my small city, leaving things trapped in a disfigured memory beneath the rubble. Like many others, I have been displaced from Gaza City to the far south for the fifteenth time, moving between the city’s narrow spaces in an attempt to survive the massacre, searching for lost safety
and escaping extermination. I lost everything I owned: my office, my house, my studio, all my works, tools, books, and belongings.
The planes and missiles ripped away all my dreams and possessions, but they could not take away my passion and love for drawing. I have been drawing every day, and I still do, sending a message that challenges death, destruction, and the machinery of killing. This message has broken the siege, the barriers, and the borders, declaring that I… am still alive.”