December - Week 1

Written 18/12/2025, Edited 19/12/2025, 20/12/2025 - better late than never!

Full body photo of a middle aged Palestinian woman, she is sat casually in a jumper and jeans, a large painting is behind her

Who am I studying?

This month (and January 2026 let's be honest), for my final artist of this project, I will be studying a Palestinian artist called Laila Shawa.

Short biography

She was born in 1940 in Gaza, Palestine. Which if you know anything of Palestinian history, means that she was eight years old when the Nakba happened where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced from their homes and forced into ever smaller amounts of land.

She was from a wealthy family, which did grant her some privileges even as a Palestinian woman. She studied abroad, at the Leonardo da Vinci Art Institute in Cairo, the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome and the the School of Seeing in Salzburg, Austria through the late 1950s to mid 1960s. She got a very rich art education, particualrly in Expressionism.

In 1965 she returned to Gaza to teach arts and crafts at refugee camps before moving to Beirut, Lebanon in 1967. She moved back to Gaza in 1975 on the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War before eventually moving to London in the 1980s where she was based for the rest of her life.

She never forgot her home though. In 1992, she (with her father and husband) established the Rashad Shawa Cultural Center(named for her father). It was (emphasis on was) a place where films would be shown, artist workshops could be held and even conferences. It was sadly destroyed by Israel in November 2023 (during a ceasefire!!!)

As to be expected, her art throughout her life was very political. Her art (whether in painted, printed or sculpted form) often focuses on Palestinian liberation - or the plight of Palestinians, or their determination to fight back. Or critiquing the West for profiting off of Palestinian suffering.

Her art style was a mix of influences, from European expressionism to traditional Palestinian art.

She died in 2022, at the age of 82 (so at least she didn't live to see the cultural centre she founded destroyed).

Why I chose her

I knew I wanted to choose a Palestinian artist, there is a rich history to one of the oldest countries in the world (and while I am not especially religious I am culturally Christian and it is the origin of Christianity) and I wanted to highlight an artist from Palestine. And looking at her artwork I REALLY liked a lot of it, I found so many of her pieces really powerful.

Examples of her work

I must say that Laila's art throughout her career was VERY varied, so what I have chosen is a very small part of her massive range!

Stylised painting of a group of women, wearing colourful patterned niqabs holding ice-cream and sighing in frustration
Impossible Dream, 1988. I ADORE the patterns of the niqabs that the women are wearing here, and I am impressed at how she was able to convey their annoyance/frustration with just their eyes and eyebrows.
A pop art style of four identical photos of a woman wearing a keffiyah - the only difference between each photo is the colour
Fashionista Terrorista, 2010. With how the keffiyah is seen by certain people these days this is a sadly relevant piece. The pop art style (makes me think of Warhol's Marilyn Monroe piece) further highlighting the how the image is more important that the reality (at least that's how I see it)
A line drawing of a mermaid, her hands are fins rather than human hands.
A Mermaid, 1975. I just really like this drawing. The detail on her hair and tail is so intricate and it's just so pretty!
An oil painting a busy middle eastern open-air market
Souk In Gaza, 1965. I didn't know what 'souk' meant before looking it up just now - it means an open-air street market. I like how she uses the paint strokes to evoke the liveliness of such a scene.
A photo of a wall covered in dollar signed graffiti, there are bodies lying by the wall. The Palestinian flag is super-imposed over the photo
"The Deal", 1994. This is part of her series called the 'Walls of Gaza' - photographing graffiti in Palestine made during the First Intifada (a true snapshot as Israeli forces often erased grafitti as quickly as possible). I think this is in reference to the Oslo accords, which were signed in 1993, which many Palestinian activists were unhappy with. I could surmise this simply from the large dollar signs, with bodies (unsure if alive or not) by the wall and the Palestinian flag super-imposed over it.
A stylised painting of a group of women in colourful niqabs holding a hand up, the hands are patterned like the Hamsa. The background is black, and although the women's eyes are open their eyes are black voids.The Hands of Fatima, 1992. Her best known artwork. There seem to be two artworks of hers called 'The Hand of Fatima', I preffered this one so this is the one I put here. The Hamsa (sometimes called the Hand of Fatima) is a popular amulet in the Middle East. It is a symbol of protection during hard times. The title here has a double meaning, as the women's hands are styled like the symbol but also it is their literal hands. Meaning they are fighring for their liberation. Their faces are very determined and focused. And again, I adore the patterns - especially the henna on their hands.
An oil painting a group of women in despair, near a well with dropped water containers. A city shape is in the background and the overall colour scheme is a bloody red.
The Well, 1967. My interpretation of this piece is that it's about how an every day activity (collecting water from a well) is marred with violence. The despair on the women and the bloody red of the background are very evocative.
A photo of a giant slingshot with a rock placed in the rubber band of the slingshot
Weapons of Mass Destruction, 2002. As someone born in the late 1990s I have very hazy memories of the whole 'WMDs' bullshit in real time (the West claiming Iraq had 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' to justify bombing and invading the country). So I imagine it was in response to that, but also to how Israel will react disproportionately to rocks being thrown at them with rockets/bombs. I'm not normally one for 'object art' but I do appreciate the sentiment of this piece.

Links to more info about her