Sabra and Shatila Massacre by DIA AL AZZAWI

The tapestry Sabra and Shatila Massacre, 2016-2018, a duplicate of Dia Al Azzawi's monumental drawing Sabra and Shatila 1982-1983, was born out of a pressing need to preserve the masterpiece that documented the devastating historical incident. The original drawing on paper was acquired by Tate Modern in 2012. By then, three decades following its execution, the paper had become quite fragile and light-sensitive, making it difficult for the museum to exhibit it regularly. In 2024, the late Dr. Ramzi Dalloul, with the artist's approval, decided to transform this seminal work into a tapestry, a task entrusted to the historic Real Fábrica de Tapices in Madrid. This transformation, executed from 2016 to 2018, was a significant step in preserving the memory of the tragic event it represents, ensuring its permanence for future generations.

Al Azzawi’s original Sabra and Shatila Massacre, 1982-1983, is a mural drawing executed with ballpoint, pencil, and wax-crayon on paper. Fixed on four panels of stretched canvas for support, the drawings depicted densely packed figures of body parts, animal images, and domestic elements. Al-Azzawi deployed a cubist style in executing his work. The obliterated human figures are broken into geometric fragments and depicted from multiple viewpoints simultaneously, creating a fractured and abstract appearance that emphasizes the flatness of the picture rather than traditional three-dimensional realism. Furthermore, figures merge with the drawing background, adding to the overall impact of the piece.

The drawing was executed with neutral tones of black and white as well as touches of brown and blood red to depict the horror of the mass slaughter that took place in Sabra neighborhood and Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, in 1982. The massacre took place between 16-18 September, where nearly 3000 Palestinian refugees and Lebanese civilians were killed by the Lebanese Phalange militia under the watch of the Israeli army. It shocked the world and stands as one of the most painful markers of modern Arab history.

Al Azzawi, based in London at that point, was shocked by the devastating news, and chose to channel his fury into this artwork. He was further inspired by Jean Genet’s article Quatre heures a Chatila, which vividly recounts the carnage he witnessed during just four hours inside the camp. Al Azzawi spent more than four months drawing his masterpiece, translating Genet’s written words into a visual image. The artist documented “the thick white smell of death” and the “barbaric party that had taken place there” as termed by Genet.

Stylistically, the drawing reflects the influence of Pablo Picasso's Guernica, 1937 which captured the suffering of people in the bombing of the town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. It is worth noting that, in 1955, Nelson A. Rockefeller commissioned the atelier of Jaqueline de la Baume-Durrbach in the Department of the Var in Southern France to transform Picasso's Guernica into a tapestry. It is now hanging at the United Nations; at the entrance to the Security Council Chamber, UN, NYC.

Al Azzawi’s work is similar to Picasso’s Guernica, particularly in its dominating monochromatic palette of black, white, and gray, as well as its cubist forms and distorted figures, which convey the chaos, anguish, and brutality of war. However, Al Azzawi’s work is more densely packed, mimicking the narrow alleys of the Shatila camp, and oppressively claustrophobic in its unrelenting maelstrom of victims’ faces, body parts, and domestic aspects. The parallel between the two works gave rise to it being called “The Arab Guernica.

The Real Fabrica de Tapices weavers, in their commitment to preserving Al Azzawi's gestural drawing style, incorporated and adapted ancient weaving techniques. This not only retained the effect of the original work but also connected their craftsmanship to a rich historical tradition. Over several years, thirty weavers recreated the mural in cotton, wool, and silk, developing more than two hundred shades of black and red to capture the intensity of Al Azzawi's vision. Their process preserved the sense of urgency that is present in the original work by copying the lines of the drawings in a manner that mimicked the artist's dynamic pen and pencil strokes. Furthermore, to accentuate the authenticity of the piece, Real Fabrica de Tapices in agreement with the late Dr. Ramzi Dalloul, wove Dia Al Azzawi's signature at the lower right corner of the tapestry, with the date reading (82-83); exactly similar to the original work.

By transforming the Sabra and Shatila Massacre drawing into a tapestry, the life of Al Azzawi’s testimony is extended as it allows the work to travel and be encountered. Sabra and Shatila Massacre is a scream woven into fabric, a refusal to let silence erase the victims, and a memorial of the massacre’s horrors and the human cost of war.

Sown signature and dated by Tapice as original painting
Produced by Fabrica de Tapices