I’m Still Alive No.1 by Maisara Baroud

After losing his home and studio in Gaza City in October, Maisara Baroud began drawing his diaries under the devastating Israeli genocidal war. He hasn’t ceased drawing since losing his “personal little world” to destruction, along with all his paintings, tools, books, and precious memories. Through his paintings, he documents displacement, brutal bombardment, the fear of loss, and the anxiety of protecting loved ones. Baroud says, ” I draw to tell my friends that I am still alive.”

Baroud is fascinated by the contrast of black and white, employing distinctive techniques to capture the core of human suffering. His work echoes an outcry imbued with a blend of emotions: sadness, grief, anxiety, weakness, hope, and a yearning for freedom. Baroud says, “Since the beginning of the war on Gaza… I have aimed to document, through my eyes and work, the details of the war. My drawings became a message to friends, telling them that I am still alive… Through my diary, I documented stories of destruction, loss, death, weakness, displacement, hunger, pain, patience, resilience, and breakdown… The occupation has destroyed everything beautiful in my small city, leaving things trapped in a distorted memory beneath the rubble. Like others, I have become displaced from Gaza to the south for the tenth time, navigating the narrow space in an attempt to escape death, seeking lost safety, and fleeing genocide.”