Sohail Salem was born in Gaza, where he currently lives and works. In addition to being a practising artist, he is also a professor at Al-Aqsa University and co-founder of the Eltiqa’ Group for Contemporary Arts, a grassroots organisation that hosts exhibitions, workshops and lessons for Palestinian artists. In 2023, amid the ongoing genocide in Palestine, he was displaced to Deir al-Balah, where he continues to produce work in the form of daily visual memoirs drawn on UNRWA school notebooks.
Diaries from Gaza is a series of notebook drawings in ink, rendered in raw, gestural strokes tracing Salem’s daily life under siege. At the biennial, twenty of these works on paper are exhibited, accompanied by scanned copies of the original notebooks displayed on a table. Some of these drawings were smuggled out of Gaza during the genocide – a logistical and emotional feat in itself. More than artworks, these pages are a testimony: a visual archive of that which remains unspeakable in the language of news and media. They are a message from the heart of Gaza, a window onto the truth of life in the Strip.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Sohail Salem (b. 1974, Gaza) is a visual artist based in Gaza. His artistic practice encompasses design, installation art, sculpture, photography and graphic design, with a focus on capturing nature and human activities. His solo exhibitions include Waiting, French Cultural Centre, Palestine (2011); Une Place Et Des Lieux [Bir Meydan ve Mekânlar], Place de La Collégiale, Villefranche‑de‑Rouergue (2005); Art Vision [Sanata Bakış], Khalil Sakakini Centre, Ramallah (2003). Group exhibitions include Eltiqa: How to Work Together?, Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai (2025); Under Fire, Darat al Funun, Amman (2024); Tales, ArtZone Palestine (2021).
EXHIBITED WORKS
Sohail Salem (b. 1974)
Diaries from Gaza, 2024
Pen on paper
Horizontal drawings: 32.1 × 41.8 cm
Vertical drawings: 41.8 × 32.1 cm
Courtesy of the artist, Alia Fattouh, Jameel Arts Centre
Sohail Salem (b. 1974)
Distress Call – notebooks, 2024
Pen on A5 paper
Courtesy of the artist and Jameel Arts Centre
