“Praying Palestinian Women”
By Halima Aziz
This artwork was made in honour of World Day of Prayer 2024. Through “Praying Palestinian Women”, the artist represents three Palestinian women praying together in nature in a peaceful place. In her work, the artist has different symbols that indicate the origin of these women and their cohesion.
Olive trees and branches are a sign of everlasting and abundant life because they can live for thousands of years. Some of the olive trees in Palestine today were there during the time of Jesus.
The golden roots underline the fact that the Palestinians will always exist, and they will always stand for their rights and freedom. The roots are painted in gold because they are something precious, something no one can take away from the Palestinians because they are deeply rooted.
Poppy flowers are abundant and meaningful to Palestinians. They remind Palestinians of loved ones who have given their lives for their country.
Traditional Palestinian dresses like the tatreez (embroidery) thobe (dress) or the white scarf are also important. They represent the Palestinian people and are full of art and history.
The keys are a symbol of the hope to return to Palestine. No matter where they are around the world, Palestinians always carry with them the keys of their homes they were driven out of. They pass them on to their children so they will never lose hope.
About the artist:
Halima Aziz (b.1999 in Hagen, Germany) is a passionate Palestinian visual artist and design student based in Germany. Her mum is from Tulkarm and her dad is from Gaza. She spent her childhood in Palestine and experienced the war in Gaza in 2008. In 2009 she moved back to Germany.
Halima was interested in art from an early age and has always enjoyed painting. She started painting professionally in 2017 while participating in an art school project. Halima often likes to spontaneously let her creativity flow while she paints, trusting the process without planning in advance exactly how and what she wants to paint. But sometimes it takes planning, then she does sketches before making her paintings. She enjoys making colourful and eye-catching paintings, most of which express specific feelings or have a specific meaning. She is mostly inspired by nature, art museums, books or her native Palestine. Through her paintings she proudly represents Palestinian heritage, identity, life, culture, history, and tradition. Halima feels closer to her homeland when she paints about it. Her artworks emphasize her feelings and emotions towards what she experienced in Palestine. With each stroke brush painted, she’s expressing and highlighting the story of the Palestinian people and their struggle of resisting the occupation. She hopes her meaningful paintings inform the world of the Palestinian spirit — never to be forgotten. She paints in acrylic and oil on canvas or sometimes with watercolors on fine art paper.
Halima’s art has been exhibited three times. In 2020 she was part of an exhibition at the Palestine Museum US in America. Her second major exhibition was in December 2021 at the P21 Gallery in London. Her third exhibition was recently at Café Kuhlmann in Münster.
“I believe that through my artworks and other talented Palestinian artists’ artworks, people will understand more clearly how we Palestinians feel and what we have to go through. Everyone should care about it because it’s a human right issue. I hope and believe that one day Palestine will be free and that we will be able to peacefully return back to our homes and our families.“
-Halima Aziz
What beautiful art work Halima. I’m helping organize our Women’s World Day of Prayer on the first Friday in March in Salt Rock on the east coast of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa. Thank you for the painting you did for us. It will be enjoyed all who attend our service.