Samir Salameh (; 16 August 1944 – 16 August 2018) was a Palestinian-born French

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

, known for painting.

Early life

Salameh was born in the city of

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

, Palestine on 16 August 1944 and on the impact of the 1948 exodus was forced to move with his family to the city of

Majd al-Krum Majd al-Krum ( ''Majd al-Kurūm'', ) is an Arab citizens of Israel, Arab town located in the Galilee in Israel's Northern District (Israel), Northern District about 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of Acre, Israel, Acre. Its inhabitants are primaril ...

Galilee Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ). ''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...

, and from there to the

Bint Jbeil Bint Jbeil (; Levantine pronunciation: , "daughter of (the) little mountain" or "daughter of Byblos") is the second largest municipality in the Nabatiye Governorate in Southern Lebanon. The Baydoun Family are known to be the best family out of ...

village in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. Samir stayed with there for a short time, and continued his career in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

and

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, and finally settled in the monastery of the Christian community on the shield.

Career

Salameh began painting early, and received encouragement from the art teacher, a Syrian artist named Adham Ismail. He entered the faculty of fine arts of the

Damascus University Damascus University () is the largest and oldest university in Syria, located in the capital Damascus, with campuses in other Syrian cities. It was founded in 1923 as the Syrian University () through the merger of the Faculty of Medicine of Dama ...

, and finished his studies in 1972 and then moved to Beirut, where he joined

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...

. He participated in several collective exhibitions in Beirut, as well as numerous international exhibitions on Palestine. He contributed to the structuring of the Union of Arab Artists, being Ismail Shammout the first General Secretary. In 1975, Samir moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France to continue his studies at

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

, in front of the

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

, and when he received his residency he discovered on the sheet card that his birthplace was in Israel. He opposed that and knew that his nationality "was special," but Samir fought a few years later a war over the adoption of Safed / Palestine as a place of birth in his passport and the French had in the previous mission success in achieving them. After Samir finished his education and settled in France, he received a job in the Department of Arabic Literature at

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Headquarters. Samir participated in a series of foreign art exhibitions in Japan, Sweden, Germany, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan and more, and several exhibitions in French cities. He has established an international exhibition in Beirut under the supervision of

Mona Saudi Mona Saudi () (1 October 1945 – 16 February 2022) was a Jordanian sculptor, publisher, and art activist. Life and career Mona Saudi was born in Amman, Jordan. Her mother was Syrian, while her paternal family had roots in Hejaz. Saudi grew up ...

, then moved to Tokyo before returning to Beirut and exhibiting paintings destroyed by warplanes bombed during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June 1982. In 1996 he returned to Safed for the first time, but could not find his childhood home. Received in

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

, a presidential decree appointing him as an advisor to the Ministry of Culture. He worked for two years in the design of

International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

hospital in

Khan Yunis Khan Yunis (), also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus, is a city in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, and serves as the capital of the Khan Yunis Governorate. It has been largely destroyed during the Gaza war. Before the 14th century, Khan Y ...

. In 2005 Samir exposed for first time in Palestine.

President of Palestine The president of the State of Palestine () is the head of state of Palestine. Yasser Arafat became the first titular president of the State of Palestine in 1989, one year after the Palestinian Declaration of Independence. The title was origina ...

Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas (; born 15 November 1935), also known by the Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Mazen (, ), is a Palestinian politician who has been serving as the second president of Palestine and the President of the Palestinian National Authority, P ...

, granted him the Order of Culture, Arts and Science in recognition of his career and for his role in the creation of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Media in the PLO.

Death

Samir Salama died on 16 August 2018 in Le Grand Lucé.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salama, Samir 1944 births 2018 deaths Palestinian male painters Palestine Liberation Organization members French people of Palestinian descent Palestinian refugees 20th-century French painters People from Safed Damascus University alumni 21st-century French painters 20th-century Palestinian male artists 20th-century Palestinian painters 21st-century Palestinian male artists 21st-century Palestinian painters 20th-century French male artists 21st-century French male artists