Abdalla Al Omari was a Syrian refugee who let his imagination go wild with a series of paintings. He spent 19 months in his Brussels studio painting a series of world leaders as refugees. The paintings have gained mass recognition and are being displayed at a Dubai gallery.
“The Vulnerability Series” as he named them, depict world leaders like Donal Trump, Angela Merkel, David Cameron and even Barack Obama as bedraggled refugees.
Omari spoke about his inspiration, “My aim somehow shifted from an expression of anger to a more vivid desire of disarming these figures, (to) picture them outside their position of power.”
Omari began his paintings in Damascus after the Syrian Civil war broke out in 2011. He managed to flee Syria and was granted asylum in Belgium.
Sani Azraq, a visitor to the gallery said the portraits were a brilliant way to bring out the refugee crisis.
He said, “I do think it’s an interesting way or it’s a nicer way to look at the problem rather than our usual news or social media or other outlets.”
The Vulnerability Series are below:
Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel
44th President of the United States Barack Obama
Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron
President of the United States Donald Trump
Supreme Leader of North Korea Kim Jong-un
President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
