COVID-19 certainly put us all in the tough situation of spending more time with ourselves and our families in the midst of a pandemic. Many turned to taking up new hobbies and interests when locked inside their homes with little social interaction — and Omar bin Laden, who you might know as one of Osama bin Laden’s children, was no different.

The tag of being a ‘bin Laden’ is inescapable, however Omar couldn’t be further from what it generally depicts. Though he bears a striking resemblance to his father in terms of looks, his personality leans more towards his mother’s side.

In a conversation with VICE World News, he said that “the need to draw and paint runs in my blood,” explaining that his mother and one of his sisters are very much into painting and art, as was his uncle.

Currently, he resides with his wife Zaina Mohamed Al-Sabah in Normandy, tending to their horses and their rediscovered love for art in their free time.

© VICE

image caption: “MEMORY” BY OMAR BIN LADEN

No doubt, his early life was filled with unimaginable events and memories, having had to see war up close when he was a mere teenager. In the same conversation with VICE, he said he misses “the peace of childhood”, explaining, “I miss the fun times I had, the times when I was too young to know and too innocent to see the world around me.”

That yearning can be felt in his paintings, which largely depict landscapes; from deserts and the peaks of Tora Bora to rivers, the Wild West, and the “American Dream”.

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