Conversation with the Moonah Tree
Moving to live in Australia is a continuous challenge. I feel I’m like a tree which grew its roots in Syria, Lebanon, and the Emirates until mid-June 2017. Then, the tree had to move to live in Australia and has to adapt with the new land. That is the challenge as the land needs time to accept the strange tree and the tree needs time to grow in a new land. This painting shows the self, represented in a little figure wearing a Syrian brocade dress trying to talk with the Australian land represented in an old native tree.
In Conversation with the Moonah Tree I explore the beauty of this native tree which usually live by the margin of a lake and a little away from the mangroves.
I believe art has a catalyzing role towards environmental protection and to influence laws and individual attitudes. I contribute to the protection of my own homeland in Syria by raising awareness of the beauty and importance of the mangroves and wetlands. I cannot stop the war in Syria, but I can run a campaign to protect the mangroves and wetlands and in doing so the Earth. I’ve been holding a mangroves awareness campaign since 2014.
74 x 49 cm, acrylic, pieces of wood, hessian, Syrian brocade
“This art work has been selected as one of the final selection for the Islamic Museum Art Prize 2020 (AMA)”
