Yemen: Promoting peace through art

Participants across 10 cities from the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe backed the recent "Open Day for Art" event organized by prominent Yemeni street artist Murad Subay. For four years in a row, Subay has been curating the art day to bring together people — young, old, artists and students — to promote peace and raise awareness of the ongoing war in Yemen.

Speaking after the event, which was held simultaneously in six places in Yemen including in Maarib city (pictured), Subay said: "The message of this event is really simple. This is about expressing what participants hope, what they believe and what they feel during this difficult time for our country. It's also about promoting peace, since war, borders and politics are dividing people."

More than 100 people showed up for the campaign in the South Korean city of Gwangju. Chief organizer, Man-Hee Lees, a war veteran who fought in the Korean war, said they got involved because of the positive impact. "Peace cannot be achieved by any one person, but I could see that through the meeting between us and Murad, the hearts that can cease wars and eventually bring peace could come closer."

There was a strong showing of participants from the southwestern city of Taiz, which hosted the event alongside other Yemeni cities, including Aden and Hudaydah. The conflict is seen as a proxy battle between regional superpowers Iran and Saudi Arabia. More than 5,000 civilians have been killed in the fighting. The UN says Yemen could become the worst humanitarian disaster in the last 50 years.

Artist Safa’a Ahmed organized the event at an orphanage in Antananarivo, the capital city of Madagascar. "To draw for peace, there are no other people to work with than kids. And to draw with kids who have lost their parents, brings a deeper message because what war does is make a lot of kids orphans."

In the South Korean capital Seoul, the Yemeni Student Union collaborated with the cultural diversity organization, World Culture Open, to host the event.

Around 25 people from Paris took part in the campaign. Organizer Khadija Al Salami, a filmmaker, explained why she got involved. "It was very important to participate with Murad during this crucial time where Yemeni people are forced to go through such a devastating war that kills innocent people and destroys everything beautiful around them."

Murad’s art campaigns have been internationally recognized for raising awareness about the impact of the war on civilians, including forced disappearances, the cholera epidemic and drone strikes. Over the coming months, he says, more artists from across the globe will join his campaign, and there are plans for the same event to be held in cities in Canada, America and Djibouti.