Tamam Al Akhal was born in Yafa, but was forced into exile
in Lebanon. She studied art at the Higher Institute of Fine Arts in Cairo. She exhibited her work for the first time in the exhibition entitled “The Palestinian Refugee” in Egypt in 1959, together with Ismail Shammout, who later became her husband. She moved with her husband from Beirut to Kuwait and then to Cologne, Germany, where they pursued a career in the arts with a devotion to the Palestinian cause that is inspiring. She published a book telling her life story with the late Ismail Shammout, entitled: Alyad Tara, Wal Qalb Yarsom (The Hand Sees and the Heart Paints).