From Trump To Assad: Syrian Artist Reimagines World Leaders As Vulnerable Refugees
Darpan News Desk IANS, 09 Jun, 2017 01:47 PM
A Syrian refugee artist has spent 19 months creating a series of paintings in his Brussels studio showing world leaders as displaced or disenfranchised people and is showcasing them in a Dubai gallery.
Abdalla Al Omari’s “The Vulnerability Series” includes paintings of US President Donald Trump as a bedraggled refugee with a sleeping child in his arms, Russian President Vladimir Putin as a beggar, as well as former British Prime Minister David Cameron and former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
“My aim somehow shifted from an expression of anger to a more vivid desire of disarming these figures, (to) picture them outside their positions of power”, Omari told Al Jazeera.
Omari started painting in Damascus shortly after the start of the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011. He fled and was granted asylum in Belgium.
Gallery visitor Sami Azraq said the portraits were a unique take on the refugee crisis.
“I think it’s an interesting way or it’s a nicer way to look at the problem rather than our usual news or social media or other outlets,” he said.
The US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, the first Indian American to hold a cabinet rank, visited India's UN Mission on Thursday for a wide-ranging discussion with Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin.
As many as 800 Indian companies in the UK have generated 47.5 billion pounds in combined revenues last year and contributed significantly to post-Brexit Britain's economic growth, according to a new report.
Indian-American Vishal J Amin's name has been sent by President Donald Trump to the Senate for confirmation as America's new 'IP czar' to coordinate the country's law-enforcement strategy around copyright, patents and trademarks.
US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke on the phone and discussed issues of bilateral trade after the US earlier this week announced its intention to impose tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber imports.
