The renewed military escalation in Yemen and the fighting drawing closer to areas where artists live prompted some to declare explicit political positions they had previously avoided, while others spoke of professional and security costs resulting from their choices.
Amer Al-Bousi declares opposition to the Houthis through his work
Testimonies from artists and cultural figures in Taiz reveal the loss of employment and advertising opportunities, absence from screens and fears of prosecution, in an artistic scene increasingly shaped by the country’s division and the consequences of war. Artist Amer Al-Bousi places his opposition to the Houthi group at the heart of his artistic and media message, saying that Yemenis had lived with poverty, need and difficult conditions while retaining their dignity, but that accepting a group that takes away their freedom and dignity is impossible.
He stresses that he has not made other people’s acceptance or rejection of his position a measure of what he produces, adding that he did what he believed was his duty. From the early years of the war, Al-Bousi used art to express his position on the Houthis and portray the conflict’s impact on Yemeni society.
His work addressed bombardment and siege, poverty and illness, shortages of medicines and oxygen, as well as rumours, education, schools, insecurity and the social and daily details of life in the city of Taiz. In the series “Halati Hala”, Al-Bousi addressed the consequences of the bombardment and siege of Taiz, including the resulting deprivation of food and shortages of medicines and oxygen, as well as poverty, illness and insecurity.
The work also addressed what he described as the exploitation of citizens by some organisations and associations, presenting these issues as part of his view of the city’s reality during the war. The radio series “Qalu Yaqoolu” focused on confronting the rumours he said the Houthis had promoted, while urging society to support the resistance and the national army.
This approach continued in several of his other works, including the two parts of the series “Al-Jahmaliyya” and the series “Al-Aliyah”, “Safe Passage”, “Spring of Mokha”, “The Ember” and “Sheikh Batishan”. Al-Bousi says these works addressed the Houthis and their practices directly or indirectly, while also covering education, schools, poverty and social issues.
Political position keeps Al-Bousi off screen
He believes his dramatic work reflects and is inseparable from his position on the war, summing up his artistic and political identity in the phrase: “I am a resistance artist.” But this position, according to his account, affected his professional career and kept him off the screen through which audiences came to know him.
Al-Bousi questions why an artist is being punished and what crime he committed, expressing his dissatisfaction with what he describes as professional marginalisation linked to his political position, and stressing that he has been absent from the screen for three years. He adds that he travelled to Egypt months ago because his wife was diagnosed with a brain tumour, without anyone contacting him or asking about him, questioning whether this was the punishment an artist who stood by his cause deserved.
Nevertheless, he stresses that he remains committed to his identity and position as a revolutionary and resistance artist, singer, writer, actor and someone who stands by what he believes, whether speaking out against the Houthis or addressing another issue in Taiz and Yemen. Over the years, Al-Bousi has taken part in artistic works, plays and field performances staged in Taiz and on the front lines.
However, he says the situation changed around 2020, when he began receiving pressure and messages he described as “veiled”, before their effect became apparent in the types of roles offered to him and in opportunities to work with channels and producers. According to his account, influential figures in Taiz contacted officials at channels he had worked with, telling them they wanted him removed from works addressing politics and directed towards works unrelated to it.
Artists avoid taking positions to protect audiences and their work
Al-Bousi links those interventions to his subsequent reduced presence and the changing nature of the professional opportunities available to him. Abdulkhaleq Saif, director of the Surooh Cultural Foundation and former director of the Taiz Culture Office, believes many artists avoided declaring clear positions during the first years of the war for fear of losing audiences in areas controlled by the different sides to the conflict.
He says most stars tried to preserve common ground with their audiences and turned to symbolic works that discussed reality without targeting a specific side. According to Saif, Yemeni drama began to recover after 2018, after production of works addressing the war declined during its early years and part of the artistic activity shifted at the time towards advertising.
As time passed, artists grew more confident in their relationship with audiences and became better able to address the war, siege and practices of the parties to the conflict more clearly. Saif links this shift to the escalation of fighting and the developments that accompanied it, explaining that pivotal events prompted artists, particularly in Taiz and government-controlled areas, to declare their positions and express residents’ concerns through their work.
He names Hossam Al-Sharaei, Mohammed Al-Amoui, Fahd Al-Qarni, Mohammed Hilal, Abdulkhaleq Al-Sait and Mohammed Al-Zarqawi among those who addressed issues concerning Taiz and the reality of Yemen in artistic works, video clips and writings.
Saif does not regard this trend as merely a temporary response to events. He believes art has become more closely tied to social issues and that artists are now more prepared to bear the consequences of their positions. These consequences may include being denied work in certain areas or losing part of their audience, along with declining advertising and production opportunities.
By contrast, Saif points to artists who take different positions and produce works aligned with the Houthis’ discourse, saying this reveals the scale of the division within Yemen’s artistic community. Political disagreements are therefore no longer confined to the content of works, but now affect artists’ movements, professional relationships and opportunities to appear before audiences.
Bombardment of the Faculty of Medicine prompts artists to declare their positions
The bombardment of the Faculty of Medicine in Taiz on 6 September 2026 provided an occasion for artists to declare their condemnation and positions on the Houthi group. This coincided with renewed escalation and the fighting drawing closer to the areas where they live, while other artists headed to the front lines after years in which some had avoided openly engaging in politics.
One of them was artist Hossam Al-Sharaei, who says he believed after the truce that conditions would return to what they had been and that the roadmap would be implemented. He therefore decided not to enter politics and to remain an artist. But he explains that this decision changed when he felt there was a real danger, accusing the group of not accepting other people’s opinions or freedom and of wanting to bring everyone under its control.
Although he stayed away from politics after the truce, Al-Sharaei stresses that his position on the Houthis did not begin with the latest escalation. He links his move from Sana’a to Taiz in 2016 to positions he had expressed in his writings and poems, stressing that he has continued to uphold those positions despite changing circumstances. At the same time, Al-Sharaei understands the silence of some artists, attributing it to fear of security measures and prosecution in areas under Houthi control.
He cites cases involving artists and public figures, including the detention of singer Khalil Farhan in Dhamar in May 2025 after he performed patriotic songs, the case of actress Intisar Al-Hammadi, and what happened to Ahmed Hajar, Ahmed Allaw and others. He believes these events explain part of artists’ fears about declaring their positions.
In Al-Sharaei’s assessment, the cost of a political position does not stop at security risks, but extends to opportunities to participate in artistic works and advertising, as well as commercial relationships. He says artists in areas controlled by the Houthis face major difficulties appearing in drama produced outside those areas, while artists in Taiz lose advertising opportunities because traders hesitate to contract them for fear of being questioned or having their interests harmed.
Al-Sharaei sums up this equation by saying: “Everything has a price.” Abdulkhaleq Saif says Taiz hosted artists, production companies and television channels during the years of war, and that the availability of filming locations and the continuation of production activity helped create new opportunities and bring names to prominence in the drama scene.
This took place despite funding problems, a weak advertising market and the geographical division restricting the movement of artists and works between the country’s regions. Al-Sharaei believes an artist’s position on events directly affects his relationship with Taiz audiences, who expect him to be part of the social fabric and to engage with issues connected to people’s lives, particularly during the war.
He adds that an artist’s impact is not limited to the series, songs or performances he presents, but also includes his public presence, ability to convey messages and contribution to shaping debate within society.
From this perspective, Al-Sharaei links the artist’s responsibility to defending his art and freedom of expression, saying that the artist’s role in defending his art resembles the fighter’s role in defending his country, and that everyone stands in the same trench. His testimony and Al-Bousi’s experience together show several aspects of the cost borne by artists, from fears of prosecution to shrinking opportunities for work, advertising and media appearances.
Between Al-Bousi’s absence from the screen and his travel to Cairo to treat his wife, and the fears of prosecution and professional losses described by Al-Sharaei, an artistic reality emerges in which livelihoods intersect with political affiliations and positions.
Against this backdrop, Yemeni artists face choices between expressing what they believe, preserving their safety and ensuring the continuation of their professional opportunities in a country divided by war.
