DNA

A Palestinian visual artist and educator, known for her black-and-white paintings that explore themes of identity and Palestinian heritage. Born in Khan Yunis and originally from Al-Majdal, she currently resides in Gaza City. Azza Sheikh Ahmad holds a bachelor’s degree in art education from Al-Aqsa University ↗ (2002) and a master’s degree in Curriculum and Teaching Methods from the Islamic University (2019). Azza has also trained in graphic arts. She has worked as an educational specialist in art education, overseeing art programs across the Gaza Strip.

Azza has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions, both locally and abroad. Her solo exhibitions include “The Story of Azza and Gaza” (2009) in Gaza and a second exhibition in Berlin, Germany (2019). She has participated in notable group shows, such as “Arab Artists’ Imprints” (2012) in Egypt, the Gaza International Festival for Visual Arts (2016), and the “Sixty Years of UNRWA’s Contribution” competition (2010), where she won an award. She also participated in the Gaza International Oxygen Video Art Festival (2020). Azza is a member of the Artists Without Borders collective, the Creatives collective, and the Alwan Association for Culture and Arts.

About the story of these destroyed works, Azza says: "I was preparing the works for an exhibition, but when the war broke out, I couldn’t take them with me because they were too large. I left with nothing during the bombardment, except for the clothes I was wearing. Of course, the shelling targeted our entire neighborhood, and the whole area became dangerous. I was later informed that my house, like many others, had been bombed and looted. I was displaced to Khan Younis, where I stayed in a house. When the house next to it was bombed, we fled amidst shrapnel and rubble to another house, only to leave again when tanks approached the entrance. We escaped to a school, then to Rafah, moving from one school to a tent, and eventually back to Khan Younis, to the Mawasi area, where we lived in a tent. Finally, I rented a bombed house in Khan Younis, which had no doors or windows. Now, I’ve created new artworks, all in black and white, reflecting my experiences of displacement, loss, hunger, and homelessness. I’ve also documented the pain I endured in a diary."