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A painting exhibition entitled, “Children Draw the Home with Colors,” was held under the auspices of the Ebhar Foundation for Childhood and Creativity (EFCC) and supervised by Palestinian artist Amani Al-Baba. The Yemeni Cultural Center hall was filled with children’s paintings expressing their views regarding the sufferings of Palestinian children. Attendees were surprised by the Yemeni and Palestinian children’s drawings, realizing the situation Palestinian children experience in the occupied territories. Al-Baba, who was in charge of the exhibition, said, “The exhibition is the first experience of its kind in Yemen and the Arab world as it gathers children from various Arab nationalities to voice their opinion via paintings regarding the Palestinian issue.” She added, “Children’s paintings deal with various subjects, but the matter is quite different here in this exhibition because children used their paintings and drawings to express the sufferings of Palestinian and Lebanese children, as well as children’s tragedy in the Arab world.” Regarding the interaction of the children participating in the exhibition, Al-Baba said, “Some Palestinian children were experiencing emigration and even Yemeni children painted pictures of children deprived of a secure life. Their paintings try to transmit a message to adults, urging us to act and do something for them.” Speaking of Al-Baba, Maha Saleh from EFCC said, “Amani is an artist launching work from the actual world. Some artists think art is to hide behind the painting, text or novel, but this isn’t true of Amani, who delves into our depth to show the real role to be played by a true artist.” When asked her opinion regarding the children’s paintings and their compliance with reality, Saleh declared, “The paintings were real and shocking at the same time. What’s really shocking is children’s knowledge of things occurring around them and they are real, due to the extent to which unhappiness and bitterness were expressed. So, what kind of future do we await when children paint with such darkness?” Depicting children’s suffering in a beautiful painting, 14-year-old Ahmed Rajeh commented, “I liked to paint the sufferings of children in Palestine due to the Israeli assaults against them. I painted children going to their school while a sniper was disturbing them.” Sham Talal, 9, affirmed that her paintings express children’s suffering, saying, "I painted Palestinian and Lebanese children to make their sufferings known to those people who intended to ignore them." Sharing his student Amani’s delight at these paintings, Sudanese artist Al-Taeeb Al-Haj remarked, “The outcomes of this exhibition are valuable because they have paved the way for a home concept among children. It further planted the resistance ethic and this is what we lack most. A real artist doesn’t paint trees or artistic works in closed rooms only; rather, he must exist within society and stick to its problems and concerns to produce works like those seen today.” Asked for whom she paints, Nour Siyam replied, “We paint for the sake of Palestinian children to make them feel that we’re with them and they’re not alone. We share with them their sufferings with our paintings. I painted how Palestinian children’s houses are destroyed without any fault. Further, I showed how children are attacked and left orphans, like Huda Ghaliah. whose family members were killed while they were on a picnic on the Gaza coast.” While participating in the exhibition, 13-year-old Lina Al-Salwi from (Aman for Special Needs establishment) said, “There are more children in Palestine who die every day due to the Israeli assaults, as well as those in Israeli prisons. All Palestinian families suffer from this occupation and we are standing idle, doing nothing.” Asked whether she’ll repeat the experience, Al-Baba replied, “I will repeat it because I felt this one wasn’t enough. The children wanted to paint more and the ideas are infinite. I’d also like to transfer this exhibition to the German House and French Cultural Center to clarify Palestinian children’s sufferings.”