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This book focuses on the expanding contemporary art scene in Syria, particularly Damascus, during the first decade of the twenty-first century. The decade was characterized by a high degree of experimentation as young artists began to work with artistic media that were new in Syria, such as video, installation and performance art. They were rethinking the role of artists in society and looking for ways to reach audiences in a more direct manner and address socio-cultural and socio-political issues. The Contemporary Art Scene in Syria will be of interest to scholars of global and Middle Eastern art studies, and also to scholars interested in the recent social and cultural history of Syria and the wider Middle East.
In Syria, culture has become a critical line of defence against tyranny. Syria Speaks is a celebration of a people determined to reclaim their dignity, freedom and self-expression. It showcases the work of over fifty artists and writers who are challenging the culture of violence in Syria. Their literature, poems and songs, cartoons, political posters and photographs document and interpret the momentous changes that have shifted the frame of reality so drastically in Syria. Moving and inspiring, Syria Speaks is testament to the courage, creativity and imagination of the Syrian people. 'Syria Speaks is a remarkable achievement and a remarkable book – a wise, courageous, imaginative and beau...
Syrian Arab Republic, also known as Syria, is a Middle Eastern country located in the south-western part of Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, Israel to the southwest, and Lebanon to the west. Syria covers a total area of around 185,000 square kilometers and has a population of approximately 17 million people. Syria has a rich history with many ancient civilizations, including the Phoenicians, Romans, and Byzantines, leaving their mark on the country. The Arab Islamic conquest led to the introduction of Islam in the 7th century. Syria became part of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, and after World War I, it became a French mandate before gaining independence in 1946. Syria has faced a number of internal and external challenges in recent years, including political instability, civil war, economic crisis, and displacement of millions of people. The ongoing Syrian conflict, which began in March 2011, has caused widespread destruction and displacement, resulting in Syria being one of the largest humanitarian crises of our time.
In modern Syria, a contested territory at the intersection of differing regimes of political representation, artists ventured to develop strikingly new kinds of painting to link their images to life forces and agitated energies. Examining the works of artists Kahlil Gibran, Adham Ismail, and Fateh al-Moudarres, Beautiful Agitation explores how painters in Syria activated the mutability of form to rethink relationships of figure to ground, outward appearance to inner presence, and self to world. Drawing on archival materials in Syria and beyond, Anneka Lenssen reveals new trajectories of painterly practice in a twentieth century defined by shifting media technologies, moving populations, and the imposition of violently enforced nation-state borders. The result is a study of Arab modernism that foregrounds rather than occludes efforts to agitate against imposed identities and intersubjective relations.
Michael Peppard provides a historical and theological reassessment of the oldest Christian building ever discovered, the third-century house-church at Dura-Europos. Contrary to commonly held assumptions about Christian initiation, Peppard contends that rituals here did not primarily embody notions of death and resurrection. Rather, he portrays the motifs of the church’s wall paintings as those of empowerment, healing, marriage, and incarnation, while boldly reidentifying the figure of a woman formerly believed to be a repentant sinner as the Virgin Mary. This richly illustrated volume is a breakthrough work that enhances our understanding of early Christianity at the nexus of Bible, art, and ritual.
City dwellers, farmers and nomads, Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, Turks, Muslims, Christians and Jews - all have made their contributions to the colorful mosaic of Syria's craft traditions. Textiles and silver jewelry produced in the towns are complemented by peasant handicrafts: bold ceramics and mats woven from white straw with spirited designs. Dresses with profuse embroidery or geometric patterns display the origins of the women who wear them. Syrian nomads make brilliant carpets with which to decorate their tents and their camels. At the time of the Crusades, Damascene cloth and metalwork, and glassware from Aleppo, were much sought after in the courts of Christian princes. Even at the end of the nineteenth century, Syrian handicrafts were still regarded as luxury items in Europe. Now the whole span of this enduring culture is comprehensively treated, with explanatory text and over 600 illustrations, in a fascinating overview of Syria's material legacy.