Mustafa al-Hallaj (1938 – 17 December 2002) (Arabic: مصطفى الحلاج) was a Palestinian-born visual artist, primarily working as a graphic designer, painter, and printmaker.
[2] Al-Hallaj understood sculpture as a medium that needed stability rather than movement, which was a factor of his journey as a refugee, leading him to make the woodblock prints that he would later be known for.
[2] Devastated at the loss of his archive, al-Hallaj moved back to Damascus, and finally resumed his role as a prominent figure within the Palestinian artistic community.
It portrays visual memories and recollections, and a record of civilization dating back 10000 years – a mix of myth and fertility with the intifada of the Palestinians.
[1] Notable in al-Hallaj's work is his ability to draw, and utilise the dramatic monochromatic (black and white) nature of his prints to his advantage when depicting shapes.
He juxtaposes a vast and often idiosyncratic menagerie of symbols — bulls, camel men, birds, lizard-like creatures and fish, with fantastic landscapes and episodes of ancient and modern Palestinian life ...
Scenes from Al Nakba and the universal history of human oppression, such as mass hangings and forced marches, spill into representations that draw from his extensive erudition and his own syncretic imagination.