A sense of humor can be helpful during crisis times. In light of the tumultuous events the country has experienced -from the political and social fragmentation to Covid-19- cartoonist Alajili Elabidi set up a cartoon gallery hoping it would help quell tension.

The exhibition organized by the Libyan Association for Plastic Arts was inaugurated on Saturday at the Art House of Tripoli under the theme "Satirical Diaries" and will run until April 1.

Elabidi indicated, in statements to The Libya Observer, that his art addresses the political and social aspects of society through humor and satire.

"The gallery includes my art collection from the year 2013 to 2020, in which I shed light on the suffering of ordinary people, as they grapple with the daily hardship on all fronts," Elabidi said.

In his artwork, Elabidi invites visitors to make sense of humanitarian issues through different conceptualizations, including peace, immigration, injustice, freedom of expression, wars, and hunger.

"Art is not a luxury, but it stems from the sufferings of human beings, from the difficulties of daily life, such as the cost-of-living, tyranny, the encroachment of officeholders, and their disregard for the people's concerns."

He said that all this provokes the artist and nudges him to reach out to his tools to capture the suffering of those people and frame it into a piece of art hoping it would bring them some justice.

Prim Minister Abdul Hamid Al-Dbiebah, and Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development Mabrouka Touji Othman were among the first visitors to show up at the exhibition.

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