XOFRAN EL-RADÎ

Baghdad – Painter Suha El Muhammed has lived in many countries of the Middle East to paint women. In 1998, she graduated from the painting department in Baghdad. Suha El Nuhammed’s mother was a journalist and Suha has been interested in photographs since her childhood.  She lived in many countries in the Middle East but she decided to move to Gazza after graduating from university. She has traveled between Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine.

“The Middle East is the starting point of the painting, for this reason, I have to paint it”

“Painting is like filling holes for me… I don’t mean the material holes but the holes inside us. I paint with love and I love painting. Paintings take us to different journeys,” Suha said that she travels to different places to paint and she has many colorful journeys. Suha grew up in Baghdad, “Having grown up in Baghdad allows me to have much knowledge,” Suha said, adding, “Maybe, our geography is not known today or it is only mentioned with war, but we have taken steps in the starting point of the painting. This motivates us to paint. I always tell myself that I must paint in order to protect this heritage…”

“My mother encouraged me to paint”

Suha’s mother was a journalist in Iraq and she always supported her daughter to paint, “My mother encouraged me to paint. I watched my mother when she worked as a journalist in Iraq. I always helped her and many artists visited our house. I grew up in such atmosphere and it encouraged me to take a step in art,” Suha said that she paints especially women.

“My heroes are women”

“In the Middle East, there are democracy, freedoms, war, economy, and gender issues. Each of these issues triggers each other so we never say one is more important than another. But we can never deny the male-dominant community we live in. I don't think my paintings appeal to men because my priority is women and my heroes are women,” said Suha explaining why she has painted mostly women.

“We can heal the wounds of war with art”

Suha thinks that art is freedom and freedom is healing, “Art is courageous. People who have courage can perform art. We always forget that; art can heal. We can heal the wound of war with art.”

“Contributing to the women's struggle with my paintings makes me happy”

Nowadays, Suha has painted Palestine and the struggle of Palestinian women. She has designed many book covers and logos, “Contributing to the women’s struggle with my paintings makes me happy.”