Catalog to the exhibition
The last supper
Umm al-Fahm Museum of Art, november 2024

Sobhiya Hasan Qais develops her work through a compelling blend of realism and surrealism, firmly anchored in the lived experiences of the Palestinian people—particularly in light of the devastation and displacement caused by the past two years of intensified occupation. Her visual language draws deeply from cultural tradition, with the sabra cactus serving as a recurring and charged symbol.

In the context of modern Middle Eastern art, the sabra—long associated with endurance, rootedness, and national identity—has often been used by male artists, who tend to frame it in ways that demand the symbol constantly prove its authenticity and reassert its meaning.

In a powerful reversal of this narrative, Sobhiya Hasan Qais reclaims the sabra through a feminist perspective, renewing her personal and cultural commitment to it. She reimagines the cactus not as a fixed emblem of nationalism, but as a living, feminine symbol of resilience. In doing so, she challenges dominant masculinities and exposes the gendered dimensions of oppression and erasure, particularly within the Arab context where women’s voices remain underrepresented.

In her hands, the sabra cactus is transformed—it is no longer a static icon, but a conscious presence, a symbol of defiance, and a demand for visibility and recognition.

Qais’s paintings are marked by their visual elasticity and emotional immediacy. Her work responds dynamically to the ongoing political and humanitarian crisis in Palestine, refusing to settle into fixed symbols or passive beauty. Instead, her imagery stretches, fragments, and shifts—mirroring the instability, grief, and endurance of a people under siege. Through this elasticity, she maintains a deep connection to lived reality, while simultaneously resisting confinement within traditional narratives of nationalism or suffering.