Aya Ahmed Al-Maghari

Born 1998 in Gaza, Palestine

Displaced in Al-Bureij Camp

Aya Maghari’s Life Under the Shadow presents a series of four paintings dedicated to the lives of the people of Gaza and the internal and collective struggle they endure. The paintings, all 40 × 40 cm, attempt to embody resilience and hope in the face of brutality and hardship. Each painting depicts a scene from daily life in Gaza, while their simple forms, full of emotion, create emblems and symbols of a life of struggle and survival. A message is conveyed and a transformation occurs when pain, perseverance against impossible challenges, are illustrated, however simply. The imagination intervenes, making way for a quiet soul that shines with heroic strength.

Aya Ahmed Al-Mghari was born in 1998 in the Al-Bureij Refugee Camp in Gaza, Palestine. She received her bachelor’s degree from Palestine University. In 2022 she became a member of the board of the Asala Association, and was an artist and trainer at the Aisha Association for the Protection of Women and Children. She also worked as an animation filmmaker with Seeds for the Arts and Theatre Association in 2022, and since 2020 has been a project manager at Nassej Project (Wool Art Painting). She also has experience as a social researcher, working for the Ataya Palestine Association.