Friday, February 6, 2026
ADVT 
International

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.
     
    Here is a glimpse of some of Omari’s work:
     
     

    #Repost @ayyamgallery QOTD: "Although I knew little about the internal world of those leaders, the countless, intimate hours I spent with them have taught me more than I could imagine. Just as easily as everything worth defending can become defenseless, moments of absolute powerlessness can give you superpowers” - Abdalla Al Omari describing his artwork ‘The Queue’, part of the painter’s upcoming exhibition ‘#thevulnerabilityseries at Ayyam Gallery Dubai (12, Alserkal Avenue) from 22 May - 6 July 2017. http://bit.ly/2olMBnE __________ Image: 'The Queue', 2016, oil and acrylic on canvas, 160 x 210 cm #obama #putin #cameron #kimjongun #alsissi #natanyahu #alassad #iran #painting #art #AbdallaAlOmari

    A post shared by Abdalla Al Omari (@abdalla.al.omari) on

     
     
     
     

    #Repost @ayyamgallery QOTD: "Although I knew little about the internal world of those leaders, the countless, intimate hours I spent with them have taught me more than I could imagine. Just as easily as everything worth defending can become defenseless, moments of absolute powerlessness can give you superpowers” - Abdalla Al Omari describing his artwork ‘The Queue’, part of the painter’s upcoming exhibition ‘#thevulnerabilityseries at Ayyam Gallery Dubai (12, Alserkal Avenue) from 22 May - 6 July 2017. http://bit.ly/2olMBnE __________ Image: 'The Queue', 2016, oil and acrylic on canvas, 160 x 210 cm #obama #putin #cameron #kimjongun #alsissi #natanyahu #alassad #iran #painting #art #AbdallaAlOmari

    A post shared by Abdalla Al Omari (@abdalla.al.omari) on

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Indian Pleads Guilty To Using Forged Passport To Enter US Via Canada

    Indian Pleads Guilty To Using Forged Passport To Enter US Via Canada
    A 43-year-old Indian in the US has pleaded guilty to using a false passport to fly from India to Canada and then illegally entering America.

    Indian Pleads Guilty To Using Forged Passport To Enter US Via Canada

    Veto Won't Stop Us From Acting: Nikki Haley Says Amid Row Over China And Masood Azhar

    Veto Won't Stop Us From Acting: Nikki Haley Says Amid Row Over China And Masood Azhar
    Washington will take the lead in getting sanctions imposed on terrorists or look for other ways to take action if faced with Security Council vetoes, according to US Permanent Representative to the UN Nikki Haley.

    Veto Won't Stop Us From Acting: Nikki Haley Says Amid Row Over China And Masood Azhar

    Elderly Man Hacked To Death By Son, Daughter-In-Law, Grandson

    Elderly Man Hacked To Death By Son, Daughter-In-Law, Grandson
    A 70-year-old man was allegedly hacked to death with a sword by his son, grandson and daughter-in-law outside his house in the city after a scuffle over the laying of a water pipe, police said today.

    Elderly Man Hacked To Death By Son, Daughter-In-Law, Grandson

    Ban Cow Slaughter To Promote Harmony: Ajmer Dargah Head

    Ban Cow Slaughter To Promote Harmony: Ajmer Dargah Head
    The spiritual head of Ajmer dargah has said the government should put a ban on the slaughter of all bovine animals as well as the sale of beef to promote communal harmony in the country.

    Ban Cow Slaughter To Promote Harmony: Ajmer Dargah Head

    Hyderabad Woman Allegedly Kills Baby Boy Minutes After Birth

    Hyderabad Woman Allegedly Kills Baby Boy Minutes After Birth
    A 22-year-old woman in Hyderabad allegedly drowned her newborn son in a bucket of water minutes after the delivery at a private hospital here, police said.

    Hyderabad Woman Allegedly Kills Baby Boy Minutes After Birth

    Two Canadians Arrested In Vermont, Accused Of Possessing 13 Kg Of Marijuana

    Two Canadians Arrested In Vermont, Accused Of Possessing 13 Kg Of Marijuana
    BURLINGTON, Vt. — Two Canadian men have been arrested in Vermont, accused of possessing more than 13 kilograms of marijuana.

    Two Canadians Arrested In Vermont, Accused Of Possessing 13 Kg Of Marijuana