On Yemen’s walls, a street artist’s tribute to the forgotten war

Images of death and terror on shell-torn buildings: As the world talks of hope for peace in Yemen, Alaa Rubil, a street artist, is eager to show the reality of the war-torn country.

Alaa Rubil, 30, has been decorating walls since she was a teenager, but was inspired in 2015 during fighting between Houthi rebels and pro-government forces in her hometown of Aden.

The former, backed by Iran, the latter, backed by Saudi Arabia, have been waging a bitter war for more than eight years that has plunged the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country into a humanitarian tragedy.

Aden, now a relatively quiet southern port city where the government set up its headquarters after rebels captured the capital Sanaa in 2014, has been the scene of fierce fighting.

After the battle, Alaa Rubil wanted to pay tribute to the civilian victims.

“I saw that the government was not interested in the displaced people,” the artist told AFP. “I then wanted to convey my message by appealing to people who were suffering from losing their homes and their families,” he explains.

“Using the walls, I could reach the whole world,” he says.

– “Expressing Tragedy” –

The rubble-strewn streets of Aden are a semi-permanent display of Ala Rubil’s work. On the wall of a shop located in a particularly affected area, he painted the outline of a man’s face hidden behind three sticks of dynamite.

Across the street, on the interior wall of a bombed-out building, a work by the artist depicts a skeleton playing the violin while peace signs float around its skull.

A third fresco shows a girl in a red dress sitting on the ground, her head resting on her left hand, next to a black crow sitting on a missile. Behind him, his dead parents, in black and white, look out of an open window.

Ala Rubil says, “She believes that the war is just a game. She imagines that her family will return and waits for them to return.” in Aden.

For Amar Saeed, a resident of the district, these graffiti “express the tragedy of those whose homes have been destroyed and those who have been displaced”. They prove that the war took place.”

“When you walk through here, you feel the pain, you think about the people who were here,” the 42-year-old officer told AFP.

– “Make everything right” –

The war in Yemen has killed hundreds of thousands of people, most of them victims of the humanitarian consequences of the conflict, such as hunger and disease. Millions are still displaced across the country.

A six-month ceasefire came into force in April 2022 and, although it has not been officially renewed, has significantly reduced violence. Diplomatic initiatives in recent months have raised hopes of peace.

Saudi Arabia sent a delegation to Sanaa in April to meet with the Houthis. Saudi ambassador Mohammed al-Jaber assured AFP that all sides were “serious” in their desire to end the conflict.

In the dilapidated streets of Aden, his brushes and pots of paint in a small basket, Ala Rubil also wants to be optimistic.

“I would like this place to go from devastation to a haven of peace”, he hopes, giving art the power to help the city rebuild itself. But so far, “nothing has changed here”.

Passing by on her way home, Yasmeen Chakar confirmed: “Nothing has changed”.

“We are at risk of buildings that could collapse at any moment,” the 53-year-old civil servant told AFP. “No one has come, no one has done anything yet.”

“We want our houses repaired, our roads, everything!”.