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I am still alive/Portrait of an artist in Gaza: Maisara Baroud
'I am still alive' is a series, (also referred to as a 'war diary') by renowned artist Maisara Baroud. Baroud creates and shares this visual diary daily from Rafah where he is displaced as a result of Israel's genocide against Palestine and Palestinians. These four pieces were shared during the first week of March 2024.
All images supplied by artist, 2024
Follow Maisara Baroud here, and at maisarart
Portrait of an Artist in Gaza: Maisara Baroud
Maisara Baroud is a talented visual artist from Gaza City who has been passionate about the arts since he was a child.
Baroud’s art practice is infused with what he calls the black-and-white dichotomy, which he relies on to highlight human suffering in different parts of the world, particularly in Palestine. His work seeks to address humanitarian issues artistically and aesthetically, highlighting topics such as war, immigration, political prisoners, illegal arrests, occupation, etc., and using dramatic and tragic scenes in which he explores the meanings of grief, sadness, death, violence, weakness, peace, hope, freedom, and light in a reflection of how life is intertwined with the fresh and continuous scent of death.
Baroud has participated in over 40 local and international group exhibitions in Palestine, France, the United States, and Japan, as well as Italy, Russia, Qatar, Egypt, Algeria, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Kuwait, and Canada.
Rita and the Rifle, 2004: Held in Gaza, this project explored the relationship between art and literary texts. The works in this exhibition were influenced by the literary output of Palestinian writers and poets such as Ghassan Kanafani and Mahmoud Darwish, excerpts of whose works were translated into visual images.
White Phosphorus for the Birth of Elia, 2009: Held in Cairo, Algeria, and Gaza. Here, Baroud presented 1,400 disfigured faces wearing various expressions, including pain, fear, and horror, caused by the use of white phosphorus bombs, specifically during the Israeli assault on Gaza in 2008–09.
Glimmer Flash, 2009: Held in Algeria, this exhibition of works in color explored how shapes arise from randomized colors reflecting off surfaces.
Salt Boats, 2019: Held in Bethlehem, this show addressed the fragility of life in the mass migration displacement we have witnessed across the seas in what are commonly considered death boats.
Rubble, 2021: Held at the French Institute in Gaza, the theme of the exhibition was the reconstruction of cities destroyed by war.
Existence, 2021: Art Scoops, an online exhibition at https://www.modernarabesque.com/en/news/3251.
Baroud was wrapping up his new project Checkmate or Game of War in October 2023, but the war on Gaza brought it to a screeching halt. The project is now lying underneath the rubble and debris of his home and studio.
At the beginning of the COVID pandemic in 2020, Baroud started sharing an artist’s diary with friends on social media platforms. He posted thousands of drawings, which he divided into different groups and presented as artistic diaries, each with its own specific name and theme.
Maisara Baroud’s loyalty toward his friends has not faltered even as they live through the direst of circumstances. He continues to share his war diary titled “I Am Still Alive” on Facebook and Instagram while displaced in Rafah.
Portrait of an artist in Gaza: Maisara Baroud, This Week In Palestine, # 311 March, 2024.
-The above article is written and published by This Week In Palestine who have kindly allowed us to republish here. We have excerpted some of the images. Visit and support This Week In Palestine here. Subscribe here.
Maisara Baroud was born in Gaza in 1976. He received his BA degree in Fine Arts from Al Najah University in Nablus and his MA degree in Fine Arts from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo. He is a lecturer at the Department of Engineering and Applied Arts Sciences at University College of Science and Technology in Gaza, he is also a lecturer at the Fine Arts College at Alaqsa University. He organized four solo exhibitions and participated in a number of group exhibitions in Palestine and abroad. [Taken from Zawyeh Gallery]
Baroud’s art practice is infused with what he calls the black-and-white dichotomy, which he relies on to highlight human suffering in different parts of the world, particularly in Palestine. His work seeks to address humanitarian issues artistically and aesthetically, highlighting topics such as war, immigration, political prisoners, illegal arrests, occupation, etc., and using dramatic and tragic scenes in which he explores the meanings of grief, sadness, death, violence, weakness, peace, hope, freedom, and light in a reflection of how life is intertwined with the fresh and continuous scent of death.
Baroud has participated in over 40 local and international group exhibitions in Palestine, France, the United States, and Japan, as well as Italy, Russia, Qatar, Egypt, Algeria, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Kuwait, and Canada.
He continues to share his war diary titled “I Am Still Alive” on Facebook and Instagram while displaced in Rafah.
Adapted from Maisara Baroud, This Week In Palestine.