Part of one of Baalbaki’s most celebrated and controversial series of freedom fighter portraits, Al-Mulatham (the masked) depicts the exuberant portrait of a Fida’i (freedom fighter) against a startlingly vibrant flowery background. 

Whilst the man’s piercing shadowed eyes are prominent, the head and face are partially obscured by a keffiyeh, (a white square cotton scarf checkered in black or red, that was initially used as a traditional headdress but soon evolved into a glorified symbol of Palestinian resistance. Conversely, the same keffiyeh has become a symbol of Islamist extremism and terror in the West). In such juxtapositions, Baalbaki experiments with the often-conflicting notions of identity and anonymity, both individual and collective. 

The painting’s large scale and the use of frenzied red and white brush strokes imparts the keffiyeh with an imposing presence.  However, the Fida’i holds no weapons and the painting’s ‘kitschy’ background make Al-Mulatham one of the most complex and often misread masked heroes.