Alaa Al-Shawa

Born 2002, in Gaza, Palestine

Displaced in North Gaza

Every night, as the genocide surrounds her home in North Gaza, Alaa Al-Shawa has made a watercolor that comes from deep inside herself. Each work looks into the impact of shock and fear on facial features, for example, eyes that appear wide and in an unfamiliar state. In a dream, or nightmare, Al-Shawa was in the car of a high-speed train, moving so fast that she could barely breathe from the air and its speed. As she describes it, “The atmosphere was foggy and vision was blurred; staying on that train was the only solution for survival! I hear distant voices, very distant, like someone calling from deep within a well. I was terrified to the point of death, but one voice among those was clear, and I screamed with a strength I didn’t know was inside me, as if I were screaming for all the frightened souls on earth. To the point that my throat was about to burst, and my vocal cords were on the verge of breaking! But all of it was in vain; I screamed, but without a voice. My voice was trapped inside my head and throat, unable to be heard by others. I screamed loudly, but I was the only one who could hear the scream …”

Al-Shawa’s work is a deep psychological journey. What is the language of the unspeakable? Every image, each face she paints drips into an abyss. But Al-Shawa’s work is difficult to describe, we are best left with the words of the artist speaking of her piece, Like a Butterfly Searching for Spring!:

My thoughts scattered over the souls of people, like fragmented letters strewn on old, faded paper. They seek an escape from this world, or perhaps from me! They race against the ideas of others, hoping to win over someone’s thought, yet in doing so, they lose me and drift away. I unleashed my childlike and mature thoughts to take over humanity … painting smiles on their lips and driving away sadness. Like a cool breeze in spring, spreading joy along the long roads of sorrow and transforming despair into hope. Don’t confine your thoughts; let them run free, and you will see their impact reflected on the faces of those around you … and through that, you will see yourself.

Alaa Al-Shawa is studying fine arts. She is interested in various fields of painting, textile art, and knitting. Her work highlights real issues that have been marginalized in society, characterized by her use of diverse materials such as fabrics and leathers. She has completed several art projects, the most notable being Waiting for a Response from the Sea, which addresses the concept of escaping from the known to the unknown in the context of illegal migration. Another project, titled Tangled Gray, deals with the struggles and challenges faced by the youth of Gaza in search of a bright future. She also received another production grant for Blue Vision, which explores the structural dynamics and overcrowding of refugee camps.