Ibrahim Ghannam

Who was Ibrahim Ghannam?

Ibrahim Hassan Kheite, better known by the artistic name, Ibrahim Ghannam, was an artist considered to be one of the founders of the Palestinian plastic art movement. His paintings focused on describing the daily life of the Palestinian people in his country before the Nakba. He painted scenes of village life in a naïve style using bright colours.

Ghannam contracted Gout as a child and used a wheelchair throughout his life. His reputation as a professional illustrator emerged from "tal el za3tar" camp near the Lebanese capital Beirut.

He was a founding member of the General Union of Palestinian artists foundation, and the General Federation of Arab Artists foundation.

During the invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the Israeli army seized some of his paintings from one of the exhibits of Beirut. Other paintings of his were also lost in Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion.

He is the subject of Adnan Mdanat's 1977 documentary film Palestinian Visions.

Ghannam said in Interview:

“I feel that my life stopped at the age of 17, because that is how old I was when I left, and I only live when I dream of those days.”