Mi’ar 

Charcoal on paper, 21 cm x 30 cm (8 in x 12 in), 2025  

Shihadi’s drawings are inspired by her family’s experiences which have been navigating the traumatic history of the Palestinian people and their traditions. Using hyperrealism as her chosen medium, she delves into issues surrounding identity, society, and the political realities that shape her world. For the past few years, Shihadi has been working on landscapes depicting remains of Palestinian villages that were destroyed in 1948 across different areas in northern Palestine, with particular focus on her ancestral village, Mi’ar. 

In the same way that Maroun Tomb’s letter captured a moment before exile and his art was lost to the Nakba, Shihadi’s drawings return to the land to document Mi’ar and other erased villages to transform absence into presence. Together, their works document a shared story of loss, memory, and survival. 

Samah Shihadi, recipient of the 2018 Haim Shiff Prize for Figurative-Realistic Art, is among the rising female voices in the Palestinian art scene. Through hyperrealism, she scrutinizes issues pertaining to identity, her society’s traditions and political reality. Shihadi offers realistic insights and a feminist stance which address the female identity within Arab culture and the world at large. Shihadi has an MFA from the University of Haifa, and a B.Ed. in art from Oranim Academic College of Education. Holding multiple awards, Shihadi has been exhibited internationally and her work has been collected by several institutions including the Los Angeles County Museum of Arts.