Noah’s Ark is an acrylic paint and markers on canvas made by Zehra Doğan in July 2019. Her sharp black lines over the grey and blue tones represent the shock and dismay of a shipwreck in a stormy night out at sea, and at the same time symbolizes the hope for rescue that migrants’ vessels have traveling on Mediterranean waters from the Libyan coast to a safe European harbor.

The painting is signed by the artist, who added on the back of the canvas her dedication “for Mediterranea, my gift” in Kurdish language (Jibo Mediterranea, diyariya mine).

• Medium: acrylic on canvas
• Edition: original (1 of 1)
• Dimensions: 99.5 cm x 80 cm
• Location: shipping will be arranged from Rome, Italy
• Retail Value: $15,000

About the artist:

Zehra Doğan is a Kurdish artist, journalist, and author from Amed, Turkey. She is the founder and editor of Jinha, a feminist Kurdish news agency with an all-female staff. In 2017, she was sentenced to 2 years, 9 months and 22 days in prison for “terrorist propaganda” because of her news coverage, social media posts, and sharing one of her paintings on social media. That painting depicts the destruction of the Nusaybin, a Kurdish town in Southeastern Turkey, after the clashes between state security forces and Kurdish insurgents. After she completed her sentence, she was released from the Tarsus Prison on February 24, 2019. Zehra donated Noah’s Ack to Mediterranea Saving Humans in July 2019 in solidarity with the mission of the non-profit organization.

Photography credit: Renato Cerisola