Resistance in Yemen has Many Forms

YemenExtra

SH.A.

Saudi Arabia alliance started its attack on Yemen in 2015 and since then airstrikes have killed hundreds of people and destroyed everything in a daily basis.

The Yemeni artist Ahmed Jahaf lives in Sanaa and uses to his work to raise international awareness of what is happening in Yemen.

He says life in Sanaa is difficult to explain as many Yemeni citizens live without electricity, water, electricty, salary and siege. There are no airports or sea ports and food is either not available or very expensive.

Jahaf says art for him is a form of resistance with his homland.

“I could not stand with my hands tied in front of what is happening in my land,” he explains. “The picture is sometimes painful and sometimes people refuse to watch it, so I chose caricature, art and graphics to convey simple and comprehensive messages.”

Jahaf admits he has sometimes found it difficult to find the right way to express his ideas.

“In the beginning, I used to have this problem with using symbols to imitate certain countries and I never intended to insult any symbol of any country,” he says. “For example, I used ‘the sword’ to express Saudi Arabia.”