At only 16 years of age, Ghassan al-Azzeh was detained by Israeli occupation forces and sent to an adult detention facility where he was taught to make art from recycled material.

Al-Azzeh said, “We didn’t have real art materials, so they (other Palestinian inmates) showed me how to make brown sugar packets into beautiful portraits”.

Al-Azzeh was released from prison three years later, but did not forget his craft. He continued his art work, saying “I like to take recycled things and make them into something new. Art can be a way of resistance – it’s my way of resistance”.

https://twitter.com/makeenbd/status/741593213803233281

In addition to his political artwork, al-Azzeh also makes polished furniture out of pallet wood found throughout the city.

Al-Azzeh commissions art through word-of-mouth as well as a Facebook group called ‘Made in Camp’. Money earned helps him pay the off his tuition for his completed Bachelor’s degree and near-completed Masters.

(PC, Al-Jazeera)