LONDON: Osama bin Laden’s son Omar has reportedly taken up painting as a method of coping with lockdowns introduced to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Omar, the 39-year-old fourth son of the former Al-Qaeda leader, lives in Normandy in northern France with his wife Zaina, a painter from Cheshire in the UK.
His creations including vivid depictions of the US, a country he has never visited and against which his father waged a terrorist insurgency for many years, including the 9/11 attacks, culminating in his assassination in 2011.
Omar’s works also include landscapes of the mountains of Tora Bora in Afghanistan, where his father hid from US forces for many years.
He told Vice News that he had suffered for many years with post-traumatic stress disorder, following a childhood that saw him uprooted from his family home outside Jeddah to resettle in Sudan and war-torn Afghanistan as his father pursued his campaigns.
Omar later rejected his father and left Afghanistan following his experiences of the conflict there.
“I want the world to learn that I have grown; that I am comfortable within myself for the first time in my life; that the past is the past and one must learn to live with what has gone by,” he said. “One must forgive if not forget, so that one may be at peace with one’s emotions.”
Osama bin Laden’s son takes up painting
https://arab.news/cpeyk
Osama bin Laden’s son takes up painting
- Omar’s works include landscapes of the mountains of Tora Bora in Afghanistan
- His creations including vivid depictions of the US, a country he has never visited
5 artists named on 2026 Ithra Art Prize shortlist
DUBAI: Five artists from across the Arab world were announced this week as winners of the seventh edition of the Ithra Art Prize, marking a shift in the format for the one of the region’s most established contemporary art awards.
For the first time, the shortlisted artists — Aseel Al-Yaqoub from Kuwait, Bady Dalloul from Syria, Heba Y. Amin from Egypt, Ala Younis from Jordan and Jawad Al-Malhi from Palestine — will all receive production grants. Their new works will be unveiled in a dedicated exhibition at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) in Dhahran in spring.
The change reflects a growing emphasis on supporting artistic production rather than selecting a single winner.
Farah Abushullaih, head of Ithra’s museum, said: “This year’s shortlist reflects the incredible diversity, creativity and critical thought shaping contemporary art in the Arab world. Expanding the shortlist to include five finalists aims to strengthen dialogue across cultures and generations, while reaffirming Ithra’s support for artists and their distinct artistic perspectives.”
This year also sees the prize exhibition returning to Dhahran, after previous editions toured cities including Dubai, AlUla and Riyadh.
Ithra said more than 500 submissions were received through an open call, with works undergoing a multi-stage review process before the final five were selected.
The shortlisted projects span a wide range of mediums and research-driven practices, engaging with contemporary political, social and historical questions across the Arab world.
