Amer Shomali (Arabic: عامر شوملي, born 1981), is a Palestinian interdisciplinary visual artist who uses conceptual art, painting, digital media, films and comics to explore Palestinian sociopolitical issues and revolution iconography. He holds a master's degree in animation from the

Arts University Bournemouth Arts University Bournemouth (abbreviated AUB) is a further and higher education university based in Poole, England, specialising in art, performance, design, and media. It was formerly known as The Arts University College at Bournemouth and The ...

in the United Kingdom and a bachelor's degree in architecture from Birzeit University, West Bank. He was born in Kuwait in 1981 and lives in Ramallah, West Bank.

Selected work

In 2006, he was one of 13 artists in the Palestinian Filmmakers’ Collective to contribute a short work to the

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme ...

, ''Summer 2006, Palestine'', offering a portrait of Palestinian society. In 2011 Shomali exhibited his work ''The Icon'' a portrait of

Leila Khaled Leila Khaled ( ar, ليلى خالد, born April 9, 1944) is a Palestinian refugee, terrorist, and member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Khaled came to public attention for her role in the TWA Flight 840 hijacking ...

made of 3500 lipsticks.

In 2014, Shomali completed the documentary ''

The Wanted 18 ''The Wanted 18'' is a 2014 Palestinian-Canadian animated documentary about the efforts of Palestinians in Beit Sahour to start a small local dairy industry during the First Intifada, hiding a herd of 18 dairy cows from Israeli security forces wh ...

'', co-directed with Canadian director Paul Cowan, about the efforts of his Palestinian town of

Beit Sahour Beit Sahour or Beit Sahur ( ar, بيت ساحور pronounced ; Palestine grid 170/123) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian town east of Bethlehem, in the Bethlehem Governorate of the State of Palestine. The city is under the administration of the ...

to establish an independent dairy industry during the

First Intifada The First Intifada, or First Palestinian Intifada (also known simply as the intifada or intifadah),The word ''intifada'' () is an Arabic word meaning "uprising". Its strict Arabic transliteration is '. was a sustained series of Palestinian ...

. The film premiered at the

2014 Toronto International Film Festival The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 39th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkin's film '' The Judge'', starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duv ...

. The idea for ''The Wanted 18 ''began in Shomali's boyhood, spent largely at a Syrian refugee camp, where his main escape had been reading comic books, one of which dealt with the story of the Beit Sahour cows. He had originally intended to make a short animated film about the story and he had previously created a sculpture, life size cow (200*85*95 cm) entitled ''Pixelated Intifada'' made of 58.000 wooden cube commenting on the same story in 2012. ''The Wanted 18'' was named Best Documentary from the Arab World at the 2014

Abu Dhabi Film Festival The Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF; ar, مهرجان أبو ظبي السينمائي), formerly the Middle East International Film Festival, was an international film festival held in the city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from 2007 to 20 ...

.,variety, Film Review: ‘The Wanted 18’
/ref> the Best Documentary at

Carthage Film Festival The Carthage Film Festival (CFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Tunis and founded in 1966. It is also called by its abbreviation JCC, from its French name, , or by its Arabic title, (''Cinema Days of Carthage''). Initially bienn ...

References

External links

* * 1981 births Alumni of Bournemouth University Birzeit University alumni People from Ramallah Multimedia artists Palestinian film directors Palestinian animators Palestinian comics artists Living people Palestinian contemporary artists Interdisciplinary artists Palestinian expatriates in Kuwait {{Palestine-artist-stub