Success stories of Palestinian achievers from all over the world

Ibrahim Ghanam

Personal Info

  • Country of residence: Palestine
  • Gender: Male
  • Born in: 1930
  • Age: 92
  • Curriculum vitae :

Information

He is Ibrahim Hassan Khaita, known by his artistic name Ibrahim Ghannam, a visual artist, born in 1930 in the Carmelite village of Al-Yajur in the Haifa district, Palestine.

 

his life

He was emigrated with his father, Hasan Khaita, his father's wife, Saada Ghanem, and his brother, Muhammad Khaita, from Palestine to Lebanon during the Nakba, where the family settled in Wafil camp near Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley. He later moved to live in Tal al-Zaatar camp near the Lebanese capital, Beirut, then moved after the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war to the Qasqas area, where he died in 1984 and was buried in the Martyrs' Cemetery, which his house overlooked.

 

He had married Lebanese Ihsan “Laila” Snow and had two sons with her, Khalil (1974) and Ibrahim (1985), who was born a few weeks after his father’s death.

 

He was incapacitated by gout / disease of kings at an early age.

 

his artistic career

He practiced drawing as a hobby since his childhood, but his fame as a professional painter originated from Tal al-Zaatar camp. He is considered one of the founders of the Palestinian fine art movement. His paintings focused on presenting the daily life of the Palestinian people in their country before the Nakba in an innate drawing style and bright colors, relying on his photographic memory to evoke the smallest details.

 

He was a founding member of the General Union of Palestinian Plastic Artists, along with the late artist Tawfiq Abdel-Al and other artists, and the General Union of Arab Plastic Artists. He received the shield of the martyr Ghassan Kanafani.

 

Among his most famous paintings are Al-Bayader, Dabkeh, Purification, Wedding of the Prophet Saleh, In the courtyard of the house, and others. The "Eid" painting was also considered one of the most expressive paintings of the feast and the joy of children. The Unified Media Corporation affiliated with the Palestine Liberation Organization published a poster representing the Dabke painting.

 

During the invasion of Beirut in 1982, the Israeli army seized some paintings from one of the exhibitions in the Sanayeh area in Beirut. Another part of his paintings are unknown, after they were in Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion.

 

He wrote many songs about the Palestinian cause, in poetry, melodies and singing (for example: “Record Ya History” and others).

 

Publications about Ibrahim Ghannam

The artist Ibrahim Ghannam is the subject of the documentary film “Palestinian Visions” by Adnan Madanat in 1977.

 

The Russian critic Anatoly Bagdanov called him "the singer of the land and the artist of the Palestinian estate."

 

Ghannam says in an interview published by Jonathan Dembley in his book “The Palestinians”:

 

“I feel like my life stopped at the age of 17, because that was my age when I left, and the dream of those days is what keeps me alive.”

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Achievements and Awards

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