Assam Abu Shakra, Israeli, 1961-1990

Assam Abu Shakra was born in Umm el-Fahm. His brother was Sheikh Raid Salah. Several members of the family are artists. He attended a Jewish high school in Afula. In 1981, he moved to Tel Aviv-Yafo and studied at the Kalisher Art School, washing dishes to pay his bills. In his second year of studies, he lived and painted in a room at the school, living on scholarships awarded by the school.

After graduating in 1986, he worked for a printing company, eventually becoming a teaching assistant and a drawing instructor at Kalisher. In 1987, he met Eitan Hillel, a curator and gallery owner, who organized showings of his work. With Hillel's help, he began to work at a studio on Nahmani Street in T...