Raed Issa was born in Al Bureij refugee camp in Gaza in 1975. Portraying scenes of tragedy and bereavement that come with living under siege, Essa’s work is highly emotive. His portraits of young children, martyrs, and wounded bodies capture the vulnerability and tragedy of living in precarity. His contribution to the contemporary art scene in Gaza has been extensive. Along with Dena Matar, Mohammed Al Hawajri, and others, Issa is a founding member of the Eltiqa Group for Contemporary Art in Gaza and is a founder of the Fine Art Programme within the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. In 2002, Issa won the A.M. Qattan Foundation Young Artist of the Year Award and has since held two solo exhibitions in Ramallah, and participated in several group exhibitions in Palestine, Jordan, Switzerland, and Australia. Despite using his art to bear witness to human loss, following Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in 2014 Issa lost his house along with his artworks. He continues to live and work in Gaza City.
