Mohamad Jokhadar

A 37-year-old Syrian artist, Mohamad Jokhadar has been living in the Za’atari refugee camp with his family since 2013, after fleeing from their hometown, Homs, to Jordan, due to the war in Syria. When he arrived in the Za’atari camp, Mohamad opened a barbershop, but his passion for art was so strong that he started painting murals and portraits again, with the intent to bring hope and draw a brighter future for his fellow refugees.

For me, art was one of the ways to get away from the difficult reality I have been struggling with. I have devoted my work and time to changing something in this reality I live in. I have taken my art from small paintings to paintings on camp caravans, which has been a big change for me. I feel like I am doing something for the residents here and that I am breaking a certain routine that they used to live in. Painting is a language in itself and a platform for expression, in my opinion.
The themes of my paintings are the importance of education, water conservation, health preservation, and several other topics. I now work with UNICEF and my job is to paint murals in various camp sectors. With the work I am doing here, I hope to bring joy to the hearts of the residents. And smiles to the faces of children.