Hope: Inspired by the Work of Abu Malik al-Shami, by Nadia Daniels-Moehle. 2019. Ink on paper.
On October 13, 2016, the BBC published an article about a Syrian student turned soldier turned artist. Abu Malik al-Shami was still a teenager when the war in Syria began. At the time of the article, al-Shami was only 22.
Amid the devastation, al-Shami found a grain of hope amid the rubble of an art store. With permission from the store owner, he salvaged paint and brushes.
Then he made art in moments of peace, of quiet. He made art on the rubble; street art as a commentary on a desolate truth. According to the BBC, he said the best times to paint,
“were sunset, or sunrise, or when there was quiet throughout the city…Sometimes we had to do it at night, so whenever there was a full moon, I used that time to paint murals.”
Take a moment to read the BBC’s article on al-Shami and reflect on his words and images.
295 days done, 70 to go.