Photo Credit: The Arab American News

Nada Odeh

Nada Odeh is a Syrian artist, activist, humanitarian and a modern-day poet. She was both born and raised in Damascus and has lived in countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and has recently come to the USA in 2013 due to the conflict and revolution in her country. She now lives in Syracuse, NY where she is pursuing her masters degree in museum studies.
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The key theme in which her artwork is mainly focused on is the Syrian refugees in camps and Syrian people. ​

Website

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Royalty Refugee Camps

​Odeh's work is mainly influenced from life experiences in the Middle East. She typically creates paintings using acrylics on canvas and is always searching for different mediums to explore and new art to create. The paintings she makes tell stories about the Syrian people, the refugees, their hopes and dreams, and identities as peaceful people living in harmony. They are reflections of her culture and country, Syria.
 
On March 2011, the people of Syria started a revolution against the unjust government. This revolution resulted in countless cruel tortures, imprisonments, deaths, and families being displaced and separated. Over four million Syrians are now in refugee camps. This leads Syrians from all over the world to gather their personal efforts and collect donate through charity organizations and other forms.
 
Odeh volunteered to pack clothing for refugee camps and was in shock to see clothes in such poor conditions being donated. Donators believe they are helping and that the refugees will wear anything received. This way of thinking disturbed Odeh, so she began creating artwork based on the Syrian refugees’ nobility, royalty, and entitlement to sympathy.


The whole concept is to make people respect the fact that refugees did not become refugees because they are less than us but because they lost their homes and lives, understanding this reality, make people respect refugees and look up to them as survivors of violent circumstances. 

Odeh also conducts art workshops to help educate children about the history of art and help them release negative energy. She organizes different art workshops in Syria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the United States.

Email: nadaodehartist@gmail.com
Website: http://www.nadaodeh.com/