Mohammad Ali Qazim’s moving illustration about war in the Middle
East is on display at Werribee Mansion.
Ali Qazim was among several
Wyndham refugees who were shortlisted for the Heartlands Refugee Art
Prize earlier this year.
Ali Qazim, 43, of Truganina, came to Australia
17 years ago after fleeing Iraq. He spent three years in a Pakistan
jail.
“I was tall, which meant I had to join the army. I ran. I am an
artisan, not a soldier.”
Ali Qazim says his artwork, delicately depicted
in ink, took him two months to complete and depicts the human toll of
the war in the Middle East, “which never ends”.
“It’s a lady grieving
with a baby who has been killed. War is not created by ordinary people,
but by the powers. And who pays the price? The women and children.”
The
exhibition ends on Saturday
