Visual Artist
"An artistic triumph that will stand as an enduring testament to the spirit of the Palestinian people. Mohammad Sabaaneh is a master." — JOE SACCO
Mohammad Sabaaneh, a cartoonist since 2002 and an academic at Arab American University, holds a Master's in Illustration from the UK, by a Chevening Scholarship. His cartoons have been prominently featured in publications including The Washington Post, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, and Al Haya. He is a member of the International Cartoon Movement and the Middle East representative for CRNI; he has garnered numerous accolades, including the 2013 Arabic Caricature Contest, winner of the International Estaq Festival First Prize in 2017, and won the EWK Award of 2024. Sabaaneh exhibited his art globe, showcasing his artwork internationally.
Sabaaneh has lectured on caricature art at prestigious universities across Europe and America, including Colombia, North Carolina, and Exeter. Notably, his original artwork is archived in the Cartoon Department of the Library of Congress, and Georgetown University has incorporated his cartoons into its scholarly research.
In 2017, Sabaaneh was invited as a distinguished Palestinian intellectual and young leader to represent his community at the UN Headquarters in New York and in 2023 during the 75th anniversary commemoration of the Nakba. His mural was displayed at the event.
He has curated three significant international exhibitions in Palestine: the first in 2014 at the Mahmoud Darwish Museum featuring 99 artists, the second in 2018 ("From the World to Jerusalem") with 155 participating artists, and the third in 2022 dedicated to Shireen Abu Aqleh. In 2023, he organized the first Palestinian comics collective exhibition.
In 2017, Sabaaneh's first book "Palestine in White and Black" was published in the US by Just World Books and Al Saqi in the UK. It was also featured at the Edinburgh Book Festival in 2018. In 2021, his comic, "Power Born of Dreams: My Story is Palestine," was published in the USA and recognized as the first Palestinian comic.
His work has been translated into Spanish, Catalan, French, Italian, Albanian, Greek, and Arabic, further underscoring its global impact.
Sabaaneh extends the transformative power of caricature beyond traditional venues, using his art to facilitate communication for deaf students and provide therapeutic support to children affected by traumatic events such as the Israeli assault.