In the midst of rubble and ruin, young Gaza artist Raghda has found a way to transform loss into expression. With her home and studio destroyed, she now works from a small tent on the city’s edge, using the ash from cooking fires instead of paint to bring her vision to life. Each stroke captures the daily hardships of life under relentless bombardment, children burdened with chores instead of toys, families struggling to access water, and the constant shadow of fear that hangs over the city.

Raghda’s work is both a personal outlet and a message to the world. She explains that her paintings give voice to the suffering around her: “I paint a new picture every day to convey our message. If our voices are not heard, perhaps the world will see us through these drawings.” Her canvases, though created from the remnants of fire and smoke, are vivid testimonies of resilience, depicting the hollowed eyes and frail bodies of those enduring hunger and exhaustion.

Despite scarcity and danger, Raghda continues to create, determined to preserve the stories of her people. For her, art is an act of survival and defiance, a way to insist on life when everything else has been taken. “My message is simple,” she says. “We want the war to stop. We want food to come in. We want to live like everyone else.” In Gaza, where destruction is pervasive, creativity emerges from ashes, and the human spirit insists on being seen and remembered.