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Lebanese artist pays tribute to leaving a life behind

Lebanese artist Yazan Halwani’s mural in Mannheim, Germany, aims to display the mobility of his country’s youth.
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Drawn over a five-story apartment building in Mannheim, Germany, Lebanese artist Yazan Halwani’s mural shows a young bearded Arab man packing his suitcase. His eyes are closed but his hands are quick and determined as he folds clothes into a suitcase. The artwork is called “The inevitability of leaving things behind.”

“I think a lot of Lebanese who would see this think of sad moments — such as watching their parents, siblings, friends or even themselves packing up and leaving the country for an indefinite amount of time,” Halwani, 24, told Al-Monitor after he finalized the mural at the end of June.

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