He works in a wide and fluctuating range of media - pencil, sculpture, video art, photography - his choice frequently determined by such everyday matters as which materials happen to be available at a given time in the restrictive conditions in which Gazans live.  

 

He has made a virtue of adaptability, which is a leitmotif - and the obvious thread - in his work. Symbolism is ever-present.  Al-Hawajri is a firm believer that an artist ought to portray the experience of his own life; but also that it can be an influence for contentment and beneficial change.  He has an unwavering commitment to Gaza.  Avoiding political posturing, his ability to enlist and re-present the conditions of daily life in Gaza while testing them against dreams or fantasies of escapism is always surprising; and the undimmed enthusiasm with which he goes on finding inspiration in often dour circumstances while inventing fresh ways to frame them in a positive light can be a revelation.

 

Al-Hawajri broke fully onto the Gaza arts scene at the end of the 1990s, since when a number of solo exhibitions there have been devoted to his work, often sponsored by the French Embassy.

In Gaza, he has been a co-founder of - and is a supervisor in - the Visual Arts Programme of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and he was a driving force in the creation of - and teaches at - the Eltiqa Group for Contemporary Art, the leading forum there for the development of cutting-edge art.  

He has had long involvement with the respected Darat al-Funun ('Home of the Arts') complex in Amman, Jordan, under the auspices of the Khalid Shoman Foundation, a haven for the development and promotion of Arab art in the region; and he won first prize in its Summer Academy Exhibition for Young Arab Artists in 2000.  Though he has travelled outside Gaza infrequently, his work is known and recognised much more widely - regionally and globally, including in London and elsewhere in Europe - owing to its frequent and extensive representation in international exhibitions.  

 

Al-Hawajri's personal experience on the art scene beyond Gaza and Jordan has included engagement in an international art workshop in London in 2003 and a residency at the Cite Internationale des Arts (International Arts City) in Paris in 2008"