São Paulo – Drawings, comics, portraits, music. Multitalented artist Hosam Omran, born in Jordan to a family of Palestinians, came to Brazil in November 2021 for an artistic residency, first at São João Residency, a farm in the countryside of the state of Rio de Janeiro, and later, at Kaaysá Art Residency, on the north coast of São Paulo state.
During the four months in the country, Omran finished his book, a graphic novel in Arabic with pen drawings, Hotel Cairo, and exhibited it at the farm in Rio de Janeiro. He also formed a band that mixes Brazilian and Arab sounds, Jeera, alongside Pitter Rocha and singer Lou Pipa, both Brazilians. Omran sings, plays ukulele, daff (an Arab tambourine of Egyptian origin), and guitar.
At the age of 30, the Palestinian, who has a major in Art Direction gathered his talents in an animated short film and is looking for a publisher for his graphic novel, with versions in Arabic and Portuguese.
This is not the first time Omran has come to Brazil. He was in the country in 2018, before the pandemic, for two weeks. “It was my first trip outside the Middle East,” he told ANBA. “I came here, and it was very brief, so I had to come back and really live this experience,” he said.
Omran’s parents were expelled from Palestine in 1948, and then again in 1967, he said. The family lived in Yemen during the artist’s childhood, and in 2014 they had to move to Jordan also due to conflict in the region. Hosam Omran has only been to Palestine once, when he was seven years old. He was never able to return.
At the Kaaysá residency, he recorded songs and connected with nature, the beach, and waterfalls. “Every experience in Brazil was quite different. We don’t have this green as you have here. The people are truly kind, and there’s a very high level of awareness about the Palestinian cause I didn’t think I would find, and I’m very grateful to be able to see that here,” he said. The stay at Kaaysá was supported by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC).
Omran is studying Portuguese and said, for him, the language is easier to pronounce than others. His favorite place in Brazil was Boiçucanga beach, where Kaaysá is located. “I connected a lot with the place, recorded songs, made the art for the album I’m about to release, and the whole experience was very meaningful to me,” he said.
“Jeera” means “to become a neighbor” in Arabic, and the artist said the name was chosen for the band because he and his colleagues lived very close together in the artist residency. “We will continue with the project, I intend to apply for other residencies, and I want to go on tour in Brazil with the band,” he said. Hosam Omran will return to Jordan this Wednesday (23) but hopes to come to Brazil again soon. “I feel like I belong in Brazil,” he concluded.
The artist shares his work on his Instagram page and has an album on Spotify.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
