Saudi Arabian Omar Bin Laden, son of Al Qaeda leader who was shot dead by US special forces in Pakistan in 2011, opened his second painting exhibition in France. OBL, who has been in the Normandy region for six years, started painting during the quarantine against Kovid-19 and aroused increasing interest worldwide.
The mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, the 41-year-old son of Osama Bin Laden displays nearly 30 canvases at an antiques fair in Le Teilleul, Normandy. The works depict landscapes that marked the childhood of Saudis. Some elements are repeated on the screens, such as the mountains or the blood-red sky, the camps in the desert, or the ships sailing under the moonlight.
Omar spent the first years of his life in Saudi Arabia. “Then I moved to Sudan with my father at the age of 10, and four years later we went to Afghanistan,” he says. These two countries left their mark on the youth of that time. The blood-red of the mountains is Afghanistan, he says, “an amazing country.”
“Red means suffering, fighting, bombing, death: that means (…) It was the most difficult period of my life,” he recalls. A picture “becomes a part of you” analyzes OBL and adds that part of it “live in Afghanistan”.
After spending five years in this country with beautiful memories, Ömer leaves his father at the age of 19 and starts a traveling life. He lived in several Arab countries, including a return to Saudi Arabia, until he arrived in Normandy in 2016.
late artist
Ömer says he started painting by chance. “By the time we were at the door we were home, there wasn’t much to do. My wife was painting and I decided to give it a try,” he says in English. With a tall physique, curly hair reaching his shoulders and a gray beard, Bin Laden’s son learned to paint online. “I learned (…) from watching people on YouTube and fell in love with art,” he says. Painting became his “most interesting” activity. “You feel so happy when you can express what you want,” she says.
Last year, the first exhibition was interrupted due to quarantine. Most of the paintings exhibited in Teilleul, whose dimensions rarely exceed 60×80 centimeters, seem to be reminiscent of the author’s childhood and adolescence.
“We’ve sold a lot of them around the world since the first reports were published,” says contributor Pascal Martin. Some paintings were reserved before the exhibition opening (…) Bin Laden’s name is selling”, the antiques dealer observes.
The artist claims that he feels “at peace” while painting. “I feel happier when things are good. If not, I always start over,” says Omar Bin Laden, showing one of his rare smiles.
Away from the cities he says he hates, this lover of nature, open spaces and freedom is enjoying his new life in France. “Sometimes you are judged by the image of your father,” he says, referring to the Arab countries where he lived after leaving Afghanistan. “But I feel very free here. I feel freed from the responsibility of my father’s actions (…) Nobody judges me, they respect me and leave me alone,” she says. And he rejoices when he concludes: “I became an artist in France!”.
*with information from AFP
source: Noticias
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