One fine morning, the inhabitants of old Damascus woke up to see some 15,000 ceramic doves hanging around the bend in the narrow streets of their neighborhood, as part of an exhibition recounting the years of war in Syria.
On the initiative of this contemporary art installation entitled Once upon a time… a windowBouthaina Al-Ali, teacher at the School of Fine Arts in Damascus who invited several of her students to her project.
“I dreamed of decorating the center of my city and hanging the doves in a crowded place for people to see every day, but the war changed everything and I had to wait all this time to fulfill my dream,” Bouthaina Al-Ali, 48, told AFP.
Transform the old town
Despite the difficulties, Bouthaina Al-Ali, who lost two members of her family in the conflict, was able to carry out her project. “I finally proposed to my students to take the doves and hang them as they want,” explained the 40-year-old, in the hope that this will encourage them to develop their imagination despite their “sufferings”.
Sixteen students hung white doves in the courtyards of two traditional houses, including a gallery, in Old Damascus, as well as in narrow lanes leading to nearby neighborhoods. The various works of art presented in this exhibition have “sadness” for “common denominator”, according to Bouthaina Al-Ali.
An event that transformed the old town into a magical place, welcomes Samer Kozah, owner of an exhibition hall also hosting works. This exhibition “presented outdoors allows people to move from one story to another”, he said.
“These doves are us”
With his work Permanent disappearanceHammoud Radwan, 24, exhibits photos of his friends forced to leave the country because of the war, which has caused the death of 500,000 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an NGO. “These faces are no longer in Syria and the doves flying beside them express dispersion,” he said, pointing to the photos. “Hoping that other faces will not be added”, continues the young man.
In a narrow alley, plates attached to suspended doves clash, above a wooden table, a parable of the biblical episode of the Last Supper, Christ’s last meal before his crucifixion.
“These doves are us, they represent our dreams, our ambitions, our rights, desacralized”, he adds. “The (empty) table represents ours and the empty plates resemble ours”, explains its creator, arts student Pierre Hamati, in a country where around 60% of the population suffers from food insecurity.
300 doves bringing hope
In another work, 300 doves emerge from an abandoned house, “similar to the houses of some Syrians”, according to artist Zeina Taatouh. The doves carry messages written by children, who tell of their dreams and ambitions. In the work of Ranim Al-Lahham and Hassan Al-Maghout, doves are locked up in cages.
As for Gulnar Sraikhi, she chose to suspend the birds by their legs, expressing “helplessness”named after his work. “I did not imagine the dove flying, I thought of hanging it by the legs, like us in the face of pain and fatigue, against which we can do nothing”, the young woman told AFP.