Following its huge success with the public at the Chiari (Brescia) Small Publishers’ Fair, the publishing house Acoma Book is organizing three events featuring Baraa Awoor, a talented Palestinian illustrator from Gaza.
- BRESCIA – Tuesday, November 11, at 6:00 p.m. (CSMT Event Hall, Via Branze 45)
- MILAN – Thursday, November 13, 4:30 p.m. (Politecnico, Via Leonardo da Vinci, Room 2.02)
- MONZA – Saturday, November 15, at 10:30 a.m. (San Gerardo Library, Via Lecco 12)
During the event, Baraa will share her artistic and personal experiences—marked by conflict and resilience—demonstrating how art can become a universal language of healing and beauty, of memory and testimony.
THE PUBLISHER—Baraa is affiliated with Acoma Book, an international publishing house with which she collaborates on various projects. Acoma Book published the first Italian edition of the book *Il Profumo di Mamma*, illustrated by Baraa using a refined mixed-media technique. The book, available in the publisher’s catalog, has already been published in several languages (English, Serbian, Taiwanese, Portuguese, and Malay).
BARAA’S STORY—On October 7, 2023, Baraa (born in Gaza), an illustrator, designer, and educator, was in Jordan teaching young students her illustration techniques. She was supposed to return to her country the following day, but she was never able to go back home or to her studio, both of which had been completely destroyed. Today, she is temporarily living in exile in Cairo.
Baraa is internationally recognized for the sensitivity and power of her work and has won numerous awards, including the 2023 Sharjah Reading Festival. At the 2025 Manila Book Fair, she was selected as one of the best international illustrators.
TOPICS OF THE MEETING—Organized as a roundtable discussion, the meeting will address the following topics:
- How can we combine the delicate touch needed to communicate with children with profound, beautiful stories or events of the present day?
- How does artistic style change—if at all—when living conditions change and one lives in other countries?
- Can art heal hearts and trauma?
What does it mean to belong to one’s mother, to her scent, to one’s own identity and language?
THE ART OF BARAA—Until the outbreak of the war, he worked exclusively by hand, in a world where virtually all illustrations for children and young adults—even the most sophisticated ones—are now created digitally. Through his drawings, Baraa explores childhood, family bonds, and the power of imagination to transform pain into hope. She has been drawing and illustrating her entire life, and her publications have often been used to help children who have lived through bombings heal from trauma. In Gaza, over the years, she has developed diverse styles and techniques, testing her skills on large panels, in exhibitions, and through various installations; she has worked as an early childhood educator through art and has honed her ability to work with complex and varied techniques. During these two years of exile, the need to recount the tragedy of her people with limited means transformed her drawings into anguished lines, while her colors took on both muted and vivid shades (for example, she managed to depict—in a sensitive and poignant way, yet without violence and with children in mind—the tragic story of Hindi Rajab, which was recently featured at the Venice Film Festival). His art then blossomed into increasingly vivid colors as he told, for example, stories from the Middle Eastern tradition.
Copies of the book Il Profumo di Mamma will be available for a book signing with the author.
Il Profumo della Mamma (Ed. Acoma Book, ISBN 979-12-81781-00-9) is available on the website www.acomabook.com
