Tawakkol Karman Foundation News

Tawakkol Karman Foundation contributes in purchase of 13 paintings that worth 4 million riyals in contribution to buy a home for the late artist Hashem Ali

Tawakkol Karman Foundation reported that it had responded to the call which was launched in the city of Taiz. The exhibition entitled "All of Us Hashem Ali" was organized on May 4^th with the participation of about 20 artists from various Yemeni governorates as well as an Egyptian artist.

In addition to the contribution of Tawakkol Karman Foundation with four millions, many social figures and journalists took the initiative to buy several paintings that were displayed at the exhibition so that their revenues would go to buy a house for the late Yemeni artist Hashem, who is one of the leading founders of graphic art in the Arab world.

Since the arrival and settling of the artist Hashem Ali in the city of Taiz in the sixties of the last century, he couldn’t build or buy a house for his family, despite his experience, which he spent part of it as a teacher in his studio (the first class of art education in Yemen, according to one study) to a number of artists who some of them turned to be symbols of art in the Yemeni scene.

Almost ten years ago, the great artist Hashem Ali left this life leaving his family that is consisted of a wife and eight children in a rented house while his paintings are hanged in the most important governmental institutions and in the houses of high officials. A paradox that demonstrates the suffering of this pioneer artist.

The artist Walid Dallah, the owner of the exhibition idea, stresses that this project and the initiative that was launched is an attempt to lift up the pain of the family of the late artist as they suffer from significant material problems.

Since the opening of the exhibition, paintings were displayed through social media at the opening bid price, some paintings were displayed at 400 $ and another at 600 $, and there are people who gave us promises to respond and support the initiative without purchasing paintings, according to Walid Dallah.

It should be noted that as a result of the war that has been raging in the country for more than four years, the house that was rented by the family of the late artist was hit as a rest of the clashes that is still occurring in Taiz city.

And in the past, a campaign was launched to save the family of the late artist and provide housing as the least appreciation and tribute to the great experience of the artist Hashem Ali. And a governmental initiative suggested to rehabilitate the destroyed house. But these initiatives were met with suggestions from some people to buy a house for the family instead of rehabilitating a rented house.

Accordingly, this initiative was launched and a number of Yemeni artists in and outside of the country called for it as response to the exhibition invitation which was attended by a number of the most prominent Yemeni artists of different generations, in addition to an Egyptian artist who cooperated in this humanitarian mission to buy a house for the family of one of the pioneers of the Yemeni graphic art movement under these critical conditions of the country.