Malak Mattar

Malak Mattar (b. 1999) is an artist from the Gaza Strip. She paints expressionist faces, figures and semi-abstract designs. Malak started painting at the age of thirteen. While she was trapped inside during a 51-day day military assault on Gaza, she began painting with supplies from her school to help deal with her emotions. She has since made hundreds of paintings.

Unable to leave Gaza due to the blockade, Mattar shared her work with the world via social media–Instagram and Facebook. On her fourteenth birthday, she was selling her work to buyers around the world. Within two years, Malak became financially independent. Her artwork garnered interest from galleries beyond Palestine as she has held many solo and group exhibitions in Jerusalem, France, Spain, Turkey, Costa Rica, India, England, United States. Malak was one of four Gaza artists featured in the ‘Art under Siege’ exhibit held in the Rayburn House Office building, US House of Representatives, Washington DC.

In 2022, she graduated from Istanbul Aydin University with a degree in international politics. Malak aims to be an ambassador of her people in the West through her art. She believes, “Every human being should be able to live in peace no matter what their origins are.”

While developing her artistic talent, Malak Mattar has also excelled academically, achieving the highest GPA in the Gaza strip in 2017 in her senior year of high school and the second-highest GPA in Palestine in the year earlier. She is currently studying at Istanbul Aydin University on a partial scholarship.

Mattar has seen three aggressions on Gaza in her childhood and has been deeply touched by these tragic events. She believes, “Every human being should be able to live in peace no matter what their origins are. [In a conflict], the only victims are the children, even if they survived wars, they will [be living with the horrors of the] wars.” She has dedicated some of her artwork to Syrian and Palestinian kids.

Malak Mattar paints in acrylic and oil on canvas. The motifs of her paintings range from profound feelings to dream visions and abstract concepts. Malak aims to be an ambassador of her people in the West through her art.