Why I Create Art About Palestine
- Nora Alshaikh
- Mar 18
- 3 min read
The Story Behind My Work
I was born with a gift.
As a child, drawing and painting were not things I learned, they were things I was. In school, I was always “the talented kid.” Art came naturally to me, almost instinctively. It was my language before I even understood what I wanted to say.
But talent alone is not direction.
As I grew older, I carried this ability with me, but without purpose. I painted, I drew, I experimented, but there was no clear reason behind it. No message. No anchor.
That changed when I was 17.
I was attending a summer program at the Fine Art Center in Amman, surrounded by artists who were older, more experienced, and more certain of themselves. One day, during a graphic design class, an artist looked at me and said something that stayed with me for years:
“You are very talented, but you are lost.”
I was shocked.
No one had ever said that to me before. I asked her why. She said:
“You draw and paint, but without a purpose. Without a reason.”
At the time, I didn’t accept it. My ego rejected it. I believed that talent was enough.
But she was right.
It took me 15 years to understand what she meant.
The Moment Everything Changed
Years later, I was sitting with my children, Qais and Zaina.
They were still young when they asked me a question that many parents are not prepared to answer:
“Why is this happening in Palestine?”
I paused.
How do you explain history, displacement, loss, and identity to a child?
I began telling them our story, where we come from, why our parents moved to Jordan, what happened in 1948. I told them about the Nakba, not as a distant historical event, but as something that lives within us.
I showed them images. I shared memories. I translated history into something they could feel.
And in that moment something shifted inside me.
When Art Found Its Purpose
That conversation didn’t just answer their question. It answered mine.
For the first time, my art had a reason. A responsibility. A direction.
I realized that art is not only about beauty or skill it is about witnessing. It is about preserving stories that risk being forgotten, and giving voice to emotions that cannot always be spoken.
That is when The Palestinian Nakba Revival Series was born.
Not as a project.
But as a calling.
Why Palestinian Art Matters
Creating Palestinian art is not a trend. It is not a niche. It is not optional.
It is necessary.
Because:
History is often told by those in power but art allows us to reclaim our narrative.
Memory fades but visual storytelling preserves it across generations.
Children ask questions and art helps us answer them honestly, yet humanely.
Identity can be fragmented but art puts the pieces back together.
For me, painting Palestine is not just about documenting the past.
It is about connecting generations, my grandparents, myself, and my children, through a shared visual language.
From Talent to Responsibility
Looking back, I understand what that artist meant when I was 17.
Talent without purpose is directionless. But purpose transforms talent into impact.
Today, every painting I create carries intention. It carries history. It carries my children’s questions. It carries the weight of a story that must continue to be told.
I am no longer painting just because I can.
I am painting because I must.
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