“Palestinian Creatives Use Cacti as Creative and Eye-Catching Canvases for their Art” and “The Sabra Cactus: A Representation of Strength and Togetherness in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict”.
Around one year ago, Ahmad Yaseen started utilizing prickly cactus pads as a medium for his political artwork. Yaseen is an artist working at An Najah University situated in Nablus, Palestine, where art supplies and education are scarce. His ingenuity in using readily available materials demonstrates the resilience of the local community, which he aims to represent through his portraits.
Ahmad Yaseen creates stunning portraits using acrylic paints on the living, uneven surfaces of cacti. His use of white and green paints helps to bring out the details in each piece. One of his paintings portrays a mother nursing her newborns, with her bent arm forming a keyhole shape. Another work features an elderly woman wearing a Keffiyah and gripping a skeleton key tightly with her closed eyes and furrowed forehead. Yaseen uses the recurring key motif to symbolize hope and advocate for Palestinian refugees’ right to return to their pre-Nakba homes. In one emotional piece, Yaseen embeds a stone into a cactus pad, depicting a hand clutching it, which serves as a direct reference to violence. However, he intentionally avoids depicting knives, the most commonly used weapon in conflicts such as the current intifada.
Ahmad Yaseen is an artist who focuses on promoting peace through his paintings. Unlike many artists who depict scenes of conflict and martyrs, Yaseen incorporates elements that offer hope and positivity. In an interview with AI Monitor, he explained that he takes a bird’s-eye view as an artist, despite the fear and tension that currently exists between Israelis and Palestinians. His works feature dry, hilly landscapes that provide a wistful backdrop, such as the antennas of Elon Moreh in the Palestinian Territories silhouetted against the sky. Yaseen’s approach is a refreshing and uplifting take on a complex and challenging issue.
Ahmad Yaseen created a painting titled “Life” in 2016 using acrylic on cactus.
Observing Ahmad Yaseen at Work
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