A TALE OF TRANSFORMATION AND INSPIRATION

My first meeting with Abdul Rahman Katanani was at the recommendation of a friend, Mrs Malak Nimer, who ran an NGO in the Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon. She told me about an artist who drew caricatures and used recycled materials to create narratives of his life in the camp. Abdul Rahman immediately impressed me with his way of thinking, how he was determined to become an artist, and his belief that it was possible. Although his environment was extremely challenging, and the options available might have seemed limited, he continued to work, to learn, develop and create his own voice, becoming a model for the next generation, a person who managed to achieve the impossible. All of his positivity, energy, vision and determination were evident to me when I met him, and they continue to shine forth from him and his works as his career has progressed.

When we met, I saw that the art materials available to him were of poor quality and so I made some small suggestions, most usefully perhaps that he might work with the materials of the camp more directly. He took this advice and made it his own, leaving paint behind in favour of any and all materials that were available to him, including denim, corrugated iron, barbed wire and plastic bottle tops. While Abdul Rahman’s work has continued to develop in so many ways, what I find so deeply inspiring about it is what remains the same: the way that he transforms his experience, despite his roots in an extremely challenging environment, and the way his materials reflect this