Painter and street artist LAZA is the first ICORN resident in Lyon City of Refuge
Yemeni painter and street artist LAZA was forced to flee her country after her works addressing social, political, and human rights issues were censored and erased.
The City of Lyon became an ICORN member in January 2021 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the third French city to join the network, following Paris and Poitiers, which joined ICORN in 2011 and 2018, respectively. In Lyon, the ICORN residency is hosted and coordinated through a cooperation between the City of Lyon and the NGO Agir Ensemble pour les Droits Humains.
LAZA is one of the pioneers of Yemeni and Arab street art, taking part in the first street caricature campaign in the region at the beginning of her career in 2014. Since then, she has continued working on civil society projects focused on raising awareness of the impact of war on individuals and society and the issues faced by women in the Arab World.
Much of LAZA’s work has been seen on the walls of Yemen’s capital city Sana'a, offering an alternative narrative to Yemen’s conservative society and traditions, and facilitating public discussions through art. Aside from her street artwork, LAZA has also produced traditional art pieces, including canvas paintings and sketches, and has been involved in humanitarian and charity work in Yemen.
A central feature of LAZA’s art has been the emphasis on the form of the human body, which can be observed in most of her works, including ‘Depression’, ‘Refugees’, ‘Prisoner’, ‘Memories’, among others. An example of this is LAZA’s mural ‘The Mechanic of War’ which can be seen below:
Since arriving in Lyon, LAZA has continued working on projects highlighting issues of importance to her, such as everyday life in war-torn Yemen and women’s rights in the region. You can read her ICORN resident profile here.
