Storm of Freedom. Kholoud Hammad, 2024. ENG ESP

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Gaza in Ink: an Interview with Kholoud Hammad
The 21-year-old Palestinian artist has lived through a genocide, and she wants you to see her drawings.n my last article, I mentioned the work of Palestinian artist Kholoud Hammad. I recently ordered two of her illustrations, Gaza’s Nightmare and Ocean, from Gerard D’Albon: an NYC-based artist and DSA member who distributes risograph prints of Hammad’s expressive pen drawings.

D’Albon told me he first noticed Hammad’s work on the Flyers for Falastin Instagram. He reached out directly to brainstorm ways to support and raise funds for the displaced artist’s family.

“After confirming I could wire funds to their bank in Gaza, I reached out to a few Risograph labs who offered free printing for her artwork, and since then I have been selling prints online and at local markets to hundreds of people,” D’Albon said.

“I’ve been able through selling Kholoud’s art and my own as well as direct donations to raise over $7000 for her so far, as well as another $7000 from my own art sales for other direct aid to Gaza.”

A lot of my own artistic inspiration comes from trawling the Palestine Poster Project Archive, which covers decades of visual artists organizing against the occupation. Many of these artists are still living; since Al-Aqsa Flood and the genocide in Gaza, I’ve seen a wave of recognition in the US for people like Sliman Mansour, now in his 80s.

For every artist like Mansour who lived long enough to share their work with an international audience, hundreds more have died—like digital illustrator Mahasen Al-Khatib, 24, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike at Jabalia refugee camp in October 2024.

Then, there’s the unknowable number of Palestinian artists who died before they had the opportunity to practice art at all. Half of Gaza’s population are children, and the death toll since Israel’s genocide October 2023 includes thousands of babies and toddlers. It’s a harrowing reminder of why poetry is the most popular artistic medium in Palestine, where physical artworks are routinely buried under rubble, and art-making materials are as scarce as food and medicine.

Despite these conditions, Kholoud Hammad is still drawing. I reached out to the artist to learn more about her life and practice over the last 17 months, many of which she spent in a tent in Jabalia.
Ocean, Kholoud Hammad, 2024.

    What’s your name? How old are you, and where in Palestine are you from?

KH: My name is Kholoud Mohamed Hammad, and I am 21 years old. But age doesn’t define maturity—war forced us to grow up too soon, seeing and experiencing things the world has yet to understand. I am from northern Gaza.

    What was life like at home, before Al-Aqsa Flood?

KH: We lived under siege and restrictions, yet we still found ways to live, sharing dreams and ambitions. My brother was an inseparable part of my days—my source of support and the one who completed my successes. He filled our home with life, and his reactions to my achievements are still etched in my memory.  

Life was never easy, but we had hope. I excelled and graduated as the top student in my Graphic Design department. My home in Jabalia was my little world.

    When did you first start drawing?

KH: I have been drawing since childhood, but it became my true passion as I grew older—especially when I realized I could use it to express Gaza’s suffering and resilience.  

    Are you the only artist in your family?

KH: Yes, I am the only artist in my family, but they have always encouraged creativity and supported my passion.

    Are there other artists you look to for inspiration?

KH: My greatest inspiration comes from our reality—from the resistance I saw in my brother’s eyes and from the streets of Gaza, which tell a thousand stories. I love art that reflects just causes, and I draw inspiration from every artist who carries their cause in their brush, just as I try to do.  

    What kind of artwork were you making before you graduated from university? What did you hope to practice as a career?

KH: Before graduating, I explored and created many types of art using different colors, materials, and techniques—such as blending, color fields, portrait drawing, engraving, and printmaking with various mediums. It was a journey that taught me art has countless ways to express what’s inside us and reflect our identity.  

I’m grateful to have touched the surface of these vast artistic seas, but I knew I had to choose one path to master. Amid this war, I found ink art to be the most suitable, as I could easily carry my tools in my displacement bag.  

As for my career, I have always loved both art and prints. My dream was to merge art with design, creating unique, art-infused designs as an( Illustrative Graphic Designer). I was also passionate about motion graphics, which influenced my art, making it ...

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