Key Points
- An 80-year-old woman from Syria graduated from TAFE with a major in visual art
- She has three daughters and five grandchildren and works as an AMES translator
- Her Syrian heritage inspires her acrylic paintings
Wjdan Kanafani, 80, has combined her visual arts studies with her job as an Arabic and English translator in Australian schools for the past three years.
Mrs Kanafani arrived in Australia from Syria in 2009 and has participated in several acrylic art exhibitions in Melbourne over the years.
Next month, she will display her paintings of Syria, in particular the country's ancient lanes, in an exhibition to be held on 17 September at the in the Melbourne CBD.
The mother of three daughters and grandmother-of-five says age is no barrier to success, ambition and creativity.
“Never, on the contrary, because when we are young, life is so busy and at times, chaotic," she said.
"Then, as we age, we become more realistic and logical."
She says that ageing helps people to focus on their dreams and how to achieve them.
“I have always been ambitious and had many dreams however circumstances stopped me from achieving them when I was younger," Ms Kanafani said.
"Now, the conditions are right and I have worked hard to make my dreams a reality."
Age is not measured in years. Age is what you have been able to do and the dreams you have finally realised.
“I studied visual art, which is a set of disciplines including painting, sculpture, printing, stories and movies, all on the computer," she said.
