A Syrian artist is highlighting the plight of his people with a series of striking paintings that cast some of the world’s most powerful leaders as powerless refugees.
The paintings depict such figures as U.S. President Donald Trump, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, Syrian President Bashar al Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin as sad, destitute individuals facing the daily struggles of migrant life. Some show the leaders in a group, while others depict them in individual portraits.
The paintings are part of Syrian-educated, Brussels-based artist Abdalla Al Omari's "Vulnerability Series," which is currently on display at the Ayyam art gallery in Dubai.
"I wanted to take away their power not to serve me and my pain, but to give those leaders back their humanity and (to give) the audience an insight into what the power of vulnerability can achieve," Al Omari said.
Individual portraits in the series include a disheveled Trump holding a tired child and a family portrait, Germany's Angela Merkel surrounded by chickens, and former U.S. president Barack Obama dressed as a homeless man.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau does not appear in any of the paintings posted online.
