Amer Shomali (Arabic: عامر شوملي, born 1981) is a

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

interdisciplinary visual artist who uses conceptual art, painting, digital media, films and comics to explore Palestinian sociopolitical issues and revolution iconography.

Early life and education

Shomali was born in

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

in 1981 and lives in Ramallah, West Bank. He holds a master's degree in animation from the

Arts University Bournemouth Arts University Bournemouth (abbreviated AUB) is a public university in Poole, England, specialising in art, architecture, film, performance, and design. Established in 1880, the university has been ranked Silver and Gold by the Teaching Excel ...

in the United Kingdom and a bachelor's degree in architecture from

Birzeit University Birzeit University () is a public university in the West Bank, Palestine, registered by the Palestinian Ministry of Social Affairs as a charitable organization. It is accredited by the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Mini ...

, West Bank, Palestine.

Selected work

In 2006, he was one of 13 artists in the Palestinian Filmmakers’ Collective to contribute a short work to the

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film or a portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of three or more shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme, premise ...

, ''Summer 2006, Palestine'', offering a portrait of Palestinian society. In 2011, Shomali exhibited his work ''The Icon'' a portrait of Leila Khaled made of 3500 lipsticks.

In 2014, Shomali completed the documentary '' The Wanted 18'', co-directed with Canadian director Paul Cowan, about the efforts of his Palestinian town of

Beit Sahour Beit Sahour or Beit Sahur (; Palestine grid 170/123) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian town east of Bethlehem, in the Bethlehem Governorate of the West Bank in the State of Palestine. The city is under the administration of the Palestinian Nat ...

to establish an independent dairy industry during the

First Intifada The First Intifada (), also known as the First Palestinian Intifada, was a sustained series of Nonviolent resistance, non-violent protests, acts of civil disobedience, Riot, riots, and Terrorism, terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians ...

. The film premiered at the

2014 Toronto International Film Festival The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 39th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkin (director), David Dobkin's film ''The Judge (2014 film), The Judg ...

. The idea for ''The Wanted 18 ''began in Shomali's boyhood, spent largely at a Syrian refugee camp, where his main escape had been reading comic books, one of which dealt with the story of the Beit Sahour cows. He had originally intended to make a short animated film about the story and he had previously created a sculpture, life size cow (200*85*95 cm) entitled ''Pixelated Intifada'' made of 58.000 wooden cube commenting on the same story in 2012. ''The Wanted 18'' was named Best Documentary from the Arab World at the 2014 Abu Dhabi Film Festival., the Best Documentary at Carthage Film Festival. On October 3, 2023, The Palestinian Museum announced Shomali as the new General Director of the museum.

References

External links

* * 1981 births Alumni of Bournemouth University Birzeit University alumni Artists from Ramallah Multimedia artists Palestinian film directors Palestinian animators Palestinian comics artists Living people Palestinian contemporary artists Interdisciplinary artists Palestinian expatriates in Kuwait 21st-century Palestinian male artists 21st-century Palestinian artists {{Palestine-artist-stub