# Project Description Palestine is Home Malak Mattar Summary Final work Malak Mattar was born in 1999 in the Gaza Strip and grew up under occupation and the military siege. From a family of talented cultural practitioners, Mattar started making art as a teenager during a period of open conflict (Operation Protective Edge, 2014), and she soon began to sell work online and exhibit internationally. She won a scholarship to study political science at Istanbul Aydin university (2018–22) and another to study a Masters of Fine Art at Central Saint Martin’s, London, in 2023. Soon after arriving in the UK, Mattar’s entire world was turned upside down, causing her work to undergo a dramatic shift in style, subject matter and palette. While artist- in-residence at An Effort in Central London (December 2023–February 2024), she documented the genocide in her homeland through a series of mostly monochrome drawings and paintings. She later combined these scenes into a monumental greyscale painting called No Words. This work is a testimony to the apocalyptic horror and extent of the displacement, ethnic cleansing and atrocities being ravaged upon Mattar’s fellow Palestinians: “It needs to be completely horrific,” she stated while making the work, “otherwise it will not accurately reflect the genocide.” Mattar wrote and illustrated the bestselling children’s book Sitti’s Bird (2021) based on her own life experiences, which is already in its second print run. In defiance of strict travel restrictions, Mattar has lectured in universities across the USA (2020–21) and she has had solo exhibitions in Palestine (2015 onwards); Costa Rica (2015); Great Britain (2017, 2018, 2023, 2024); Sweden (2018); USA (2019, 2021); Germany (2020); Lebanon (2021); Portugal (2022) and Italy (2022). Most recently, Malak had two concurrent exhibitions in London, and her monumental painting No Words was shown for the first time (March 2024). Her artworks have also been collected, published, and exhibited in numerous group shows worldwide. Malak Mattar was born in 1999 in the Gaza Strip and grew up under occupation and the milita... College Central Saint Martins Course MA Fine Art Graduation year 2025 _No Words_ is a large painting that documents the harrowing events of the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, which started in October 2023. It portrays the devastation inflicted upon human lives, animals, archaeological sites, and cherished historical buildings, alongside the profound impact of forced displacement, which has eviscerated Palestinian society for generations. Drawing from witness testimonies and images from family and friends, the press and social media, Malak Mattar (b. 1999) made the monumental work in approximately one month (January–February 2024) after weeks of careful planning, sketching and preparation, at the same time as dealing with the trauma of seeing her home destroyed from afar, as well as unprecedented anxiety over her immediate family who remain in central Gaza to this day. Packed with personal stories and motifs familiar to the artist from her childhood under occupation, this important work is therefore an accurate reflection of not only the largest human tragedy of this century, but also the emotions of one of Palestine’s most promising and determined young artists Final work Teddy Bear Struck Father and Son Research and process Freed Monkey children Share this project _No Words_ is a large painting that documents the harrowing events of the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, which started in October 2023. It portrays the devastation inflicted upon human lives, animals, archaeological sites, and cherished historical buildings, alongside the... A link to this page has been added to your clipboard Browse related work Being Human Activism