Libya: Artists Show Work After Fall of Qaddafi

October 06, 2011 | Pulitzer Center

Ellen Knickmeyer, for the Pulitzer Center, Libya

Mohammed Zahmul, a day laborer, spent the months of the revolution sketching cartoons of what he would like to see happen to Muammar Qaddafi. When Qaddafi fell, Zahmul came down from his home in the mountains, and, like hundreds of other Libyans, began putting his anti-Qaddafi sentiments on any available patch of whitewashed wall. Image by Ellen Knickmeyer. Libya, 2011.

Libyans say Muammar Qadafi banned even spray paint, but art and self-expression in general have exploded in the weeks since Qaddafi fell. Here, Libyan families tour the now graffiti-covered walls of Qaddafi's looted family mansions. Image by Ellen Knickmeyer. Libya, 2011.

Karim Namssi (left), an unemployed 25-year-old Libyan, was determined to bring out the creativity and expression that Muammar Qaddafi suppressed. Here he stops by a print shop to order banners for a first art show. Image by Ellen Knickmeyer. Libya, 2011.

Farah Jamal Bin Yezza, an 18 year old who has never before shown her art. Libya.

Farah Jamal Bin Yezza, 18, who has never before shown her art, works on a watercolor of Libyan rebel fighters for Namssi's first show. Image by Ellen Knickmeyer. Libya, 2011.

Karim Namssi had never even seen an art show before, and had worried that artists wouldn't believe their work would really be shown. In the end, though, the first art show was a success, with crowds lining up on the edge of Martyrs' Square to see some of their first paintings by Libyan artists. Image by Ellen Knickmeyer. Libya, 2011.

Martyrs' Square art show. Image by Ellen Knickmeyer. Libya, 2011.

Artists were happy with the success of the show. Dozens lined up to see their work. Image by Ellen Knickmeyer. Libya, 2011.

Zahmul is showing his sketches to a female passer-by who stopped to admire his work. Image by Ellen Knickmeyer. Libya, 2011.

A man walks by one of the countless cartoons of Qaddafi. Libya, 2011.

A man walks by one of the countless cartoons of Muammar Qaddafi that have appeared on Tripoli's walls. Image by Ellen Knickmeyer. Libya, 2011.

While arts and artisanal crafts managed to survive and even thrive in some of the other Arab dictatorships, as long as artists avoided political statements, in Libya art all but died under Muammar Qaddafi, Libyans say. One of the few art shows Libyans remember ever hearing about was for Saif al-Islam, Qaddafi’s not notably talented son.

Over the past few weeks, Karim Namssi and his friends have used word of mouth to track down young Libyans who, unencouraged, make art–even though little of their work has ever been seen beyond their living room or bedroom walls.

Showing It Off: Libya's Artists Display Work After Qaddafi