Artist helps displaced children in Lebanon express emotions through drawing

Displaced children in Lebanon’s Dhour El Choueir gathered in a school-turned-shelter on Thursday (April 2) to take part in drawing activities led by Lebanese artist and publisher Abed Al Kadiri.

The activity allows children, many of whom have faced war and displacement, to have an outlet for their emotions, organisers and participants say.

“Children can express what’s inside them, which they otherwise can’t release,” said Rasha Salim, a displaced mother from southern Lebanon.

The initiative provides children with art supplies to continue drawing at home, offering a small but meaningful sense of stability amid the ongoing conflict.

“The roll of paper unfolding - blank - for them is meant to tell them: you can say whatever you want, you can express what you feel,” he said.

The personal art initiative began almost six years ago following the Beirut port explosion, when Kadiri’s artwork was damaged in a gallery where he was exhibiting. He then painted tree murals on the gallery’s remaining walls and sold 80 works to support 50 families affected by the blast.

The project has been repeated multiple times as a personal artistic and humanitarian effort, focused on direct fieldwork supporting families and children.

Since this war broke out, Kadiri has worked with about six schools and 250 children, with a goal of reaching 1,000. Each child receives art supplies, and he hopes the drawings will later be transformed into accordion books to support the families of participating children. 

Over the past month or so, Kadri has raised around $2,600 dollars from donations he received from friends, which covers around 300 children. His goal to engage 1,000 children will cost him around $8,500.

Israel launched a full-scale air and ground campaign after Hezbollah fired into Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran after the U.S. and Israel began their war on Tehran.

More than 1,300 people have been killed in Israeli strikes and about a fifth of Lebanon's population has been displaced. Israel has issued evacuation orders covering around 15% of Lebanese territory.

-Emilie Madi, Raghed Waked, Dina Sakr/Reuters