Mohammed Alhaj

Mohammed Alhaj is a 43-year-old artist and art teacher. He has had several solo exhibitions and had his work featured in many group shows across the world.

As written in This Week in Palestine about his background:

“The son of refugees displaced from the village of Kawkaba during the Nakba, Mohammed Alhaj was born in Libya in 1982. He returned to Gaza in 1995, where he finished his schooling and obtained a bachelor’s degree in art education from Al-Aqsa University in 2004.”

Over the years, he has experimented with a range of techniques, themes, and approaches.

“The works of Kamel Al Moghani, Ismail Shammout, Suleiman Mansour, and other great Palestinian artists strongly influenced him. Yet like that of any young artist, Mohammed’s artistic practice explored various schools as he moved from abstract painting to other expressive styles, tackling local issues in his choice of subject matter. He was passionate about experimenting with different materials and techniques and keen on including Palestinian heritage symbols in his various artworks.”

Mohammed now has four children – the oldest at 15-years-old and the youngest at three – and they were displaced from their home in Gaza City, then forced to live in a tent in southern Gaza. They are hoping to evacuate through an artist talent visa to France.