Essma Imady, Pillar of Salt (2018). A Child’s Weight in Salt, Backpack. Courtesy of artist.
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IN THIS MOONLESS BLACK NIGHT: SYRIAN ART AFTER THE UPRISING
Khaled Barakeh is a Berlin-based conceptual artist and cultural activist. Driven by his observations of longstanding social injustice, Barakeh approaches art as a tool for societal change and as a vehicle to undermine stagnant power structures. In Exile, a reworked emergency exit lightbox, Barakeh plays with the familiarity of objects, signs that surround us, and how we perceive their presence.
Khaled Barakeh, Exile, 2019. Digital print on paper, aluminum frame. Courtesy of artist.
Source: Photo credit Sueraya Shaheen
IN THIS MOONLESS BLACK NIGHT: SYRIAN ART AFTER THE UPRISING
In "Freedom Graffiti", Azzam superimposed The Kiss, the iconic work by Gustav Klimt, on the dilapidated walls of a building in Syria. The work reflects a compelling juxtaposition of beauty and destruction.
Tammam Azzam, Freedom Graffiti, 2013. Photography and paper collage. Courtesy of Galerie Kornfeld.
Source: Photo credit Sueraya Shaheen
IN THIS MOONLESS BLACK NIGHT: SYRIAN ART AFTER THE UPRISING
In "I Haven’t Slept for Centuries", Barakeh compiles his granted visas, passed checkpoints and denials into a single page. After years of unceasing movement between countries, the accumulated mass of evidence outweighs the original identity encoded in the passport. As the layers of ink become more and more opaque, it is increasingly obscured, a tiny fraction disappearing with each stamp.
Khaled Barakeh, I Haven’t Slept for Centuries, 2018. Digital print on paper, aluminum frame. Courtesy of artist.
Source: Photo credit Sueraya Shaheen
IN THIS MOONLESS BLACK NIGHT: SYRIAN ART AFTER THE UPRISING
Nagham Hodaifa’s drawings and paintings relate to the human condition through the representation of the body. "Nightgown (Suit)" is part of a body of work inspired by a nightgown given to her by her grandmother. The head and face of the subject are intentionally not shown and the fragmented body directs the attention of the viewer. Without the gaze and its inherent dualities to greet the viewer, the painted body becomes the focus and forces the encounter.
Nagham Hodaifa, Nightgown (Suit), 2020. Mixed Technique on Arch Paper. Courtesy of artist.
Source: Photo credit Sueraya Shaheen
IN THIS MOONLESS BLACK NIGHT: SYRIAN ART AFTER THE UPRISING
"Pillar of Salt" was created after interviews with young Syrian refugees and as a response to her own experience as a mother living in diaspora. Drawing upon the Biblical story of Lot’s wife, who was struck down for looking back while fleeing, Imady illustrates the tension between yearning for home and the desire to protect one’s child.
Essma Imady, Pillar of Salt (2018). A Child’s Weight in Salt, Backpack. Courtesy of artist.
Source: Photo credit Sueraya Shaheen
IN THIS MOONLESS BLACK NIGHT: SYRIAN ART AFTER THE UPRISING
In "Cleansing", Haddad prints a scene from the Syrian conflict on a blanket, the first item many refugees receive in humanitarian aid. In a globally connected world balanced on military tensions and economic sanctions, conflict in any country is not solely a domestic issue. Instead, millions of individual lives are disrupted and they are forced to leave everything behind, losing their sense of self and starting over as refugees.
Lara Haddad, Cleansing, 2016. Appropriated image printed on fleece blanket, machine embroidery. Courtesy of the artist.
Source: Photo credit Sueraya Shaheen
IN THIS MOONLESS BLACK NIGHT: SYRIAN ART AFTER THE UPRISING
Oroubah Dieb is a visual artist living in Paris after escaping war in Syria. Her art often confronts issues of exile and the status of refugees, focusing in particular on women and children. "Displacement I and II" speak to the traumatic displacement of the Syrian people due to the war that ripped their country apart. This is a topic that the artist has experienced personally, as she had to flee her home like millions of other Syrians. The people in the paintings are burdened with this endless pain, walking with heaviness and great sorrow, and are haunted by the memories of loved ones they left behind.
Oroubah Dieb, Displacement I and II, 2020. Mixed Media Collage. Courtesy of the artist.
Source: Photo credit Sueraya Shaheen
By Sueraya Shaheen
Curated by New York-based writer and researcher, Maymanah Farhat, the exhibition’s 14 featured artists reflect on the widescale destruction of the country and the plight of its displaced through painting, multimedia, photography, video and installation. In the process, their work helps shape our understanding of the conflict, from the peaceful start of the revolution to the resulting humanitarian crisis.
In This Moonless Black Night marks the tenth anniversary of the Syrian uprising by showcasing artists who have been at the forefront of chronicling the hope, conflict and trauma of the past decade through their practice.
In This Moonless Black Night: Syrian Art After the Uprising, Exhibition view. Photo by Sueraya Shaheen
During this period, Syrian artists have brought awareness to the widescale destruction of the country and the plight of its displaced while also reflecting on the peaceful nature of the protests that marked the start of the uprisings.
Whether they remained in the country or went into exile, Syrian artists have experimented with diverse imagery and media to convey the magnitude and complexity of this period. In doing so, they have taken a long and rich history of art in new directions that were unforeseeable before the start of the uprising.
In This Moonless Black Night: Syrian Art After the Uprising, Exhibition view. Photo by Sueraya Shaheen
The title of the exhibition is adapted from a poem by the late Syrian poet Da’ad Haddad (1937-1991), who is known for subversive imagery that often reflects melancholy and alienation. The poem oscillates between abject despair and glimmers of hope, much like the works in this exhibition, which find renewal in expression and provoke much needed conversations that go beyond Syria and its diaspora to reach a broader audience.
Portrait of Maymanah Farhat, writer, researcher and the curator of In This Moonless Black Night: Syrian Art After the Uprising. Courtesy of Sueraya Shaheen.
The exhibition is on view until the 20th of August at the Middle East Institute, Washington, DC
