Heba Zagout, a Palestinian Visual Artist known for her vibrant acrylic paintings depicting the traditional architecture, dress and culture of Palestine, was tragically killed, along with two of her children, Adam and Mahmoud, in an Israeli air strike on Gaza on 13 October 2023.
Born in Al Bureij refugee camp, in 1984, her family originate from the village of Isdud, but were driven from their land during the 1948 Nakba. In a caption beneath her painting ‘Isdud’, purchased by Chris Whitman-Abdelkarim from the exhibition in Ramallah which would be her last, Heba wrote,
‘I was born carrying the word refugee with me. I have never seen my hometown, but my aunt, Alia, gathered us and told us about my grandfather's land and the orange groves and the harvest season and a house full of love and life. I saw longing in my aunt's eyes when she told us these stories about those days in the past, and longing to return, soon.’
Heba spoke of the process of creating art as a way to ‘empty all negative emotions’ onto canvas, using the artistic process as a type of catharsis and encouraging others to do the same. The result is both access to an inner peace and resilient hope for the artist themselves but also the bold, colourful, dynamic story of Palestinian identity committed to canvas – a story simultaneously of loss and steadfast resilience.
Tragically, all Heba’s original canvases were destroyed in the airstrike in which she also lost her life, but with prints still widely circulating worldwide in her honour and many continuing to tell her powerful story, her message remains, louder now perhaps than ever before. Palestinian illustrator Aya Ghanameh, writing in tribute to Heba summarised beautifully, saying,
‘Everything she’s ever made is a show of Palestinian love, anchored in affirming life. When Palestinians live and die with dignity, we become the liberation we dream of.’
It is an honour to have been given permission to feature Heba’s artwork on Embrace Christmas cards and Notecards this season. In a YouTube video posted only weeks before her death, Heba said,
‘I consider art a message that I deliver to the outside world.’
We hope that you will join us in sending her artwork to loved ones, amplifying the voice of Palestinians in Gaza and allowing Heba’s art to accomplish the goal she intended in creating it – to tell the story of Gaza and to shine a light on injustice.
