أسقنيها

Sada was founded nearly five years ago to support young, college-level art students in Baghdad. This generation of artists is living in a city that has been, and continues to be, an epicenter for international violence through division of its citizenry and destruction of infrastructure by the Iraqi government, the United States, and their allies. With the ravaging of the city’s arts and education systems, it was Sada’s aim simply to connect artists to resources. We did this through online lectures with Arabic-speaking artists and professors, intensive workshops, one-on-one advisement, advocacy, and small production and exhibition grants.

The Painting of Gaza's Seaport

As the sun meets the Mediterranean sea on the horizon of the besieged Gaza Strip, the people of Gaza City like to take strolls to the end of the port, enjoying candy floss and other street food sold along the way. In recent years, Gaza has seen three major Israeli offensives, the latest of which, Operation Protective Edge, killed over 2,000 Palestinians, including approximately 500 children. The residents of the embargoed coastal enclave are prohibited from leaving by Israel and the al-Sisi regime in Egypt, which recently labelled Hamas a terrorist organisation. “It’s as far as we can go,” Jehad, a Gazan teenager told Middle East Eye, while walking on the pavement that leads to the end of the blockaded port. “It’s something to do.” The port has been closed by an Israeli blockade for more than seven years. The blockade reverberates throughout Gaza, causing problems for those who need medical care outside, the students who have been accepted to study at universities abroad, and any resident who has a sense of wanderlust. Until recently, the dull grey of hundreds of concrete slabs mixed with the more colourful boats used by Gaza’s fishermen to create a scene that was not entirely pleasing to the eye. Now, after an initiative led by the Tamer Institute for Community Education, the concrete outshines the boats. In January, Tamer began work on a plan to paint the walkway of the port, inviting local artists and youth to work together on the project. Initially, Tamer was only prepared to paint half of the walkway. “We only bought enough paint - which isn’t cheap - to halfway complete the project,” Ahmed Ashour, the Tamer Institute’s office coordinator in the Gaza Strip, admitted in an interview with MEE. “But the response from the community, youth in particular, was so strong, we knew we had to complete the project.” 

In those hasty last moments, there’s no time to thougtfully pack a suitcase and get your house in order. In most cases, these refugees could grab only a few small items, which grow heavy with nostalgia the longer these people are displaced from their homes.

Anwar Nassir: The drum maker said he had to leave most of the musical instruments he handcrafts behind when ISIS militants advanced on his town; after he ensured his family had safely departed, he was left with just a small motorbike to carry his belongings, including one handmade instrument. “They can take whatever they want, but I pray that they will have left my instruments,” he said

Fatin Atheer: The 6-year-old schoolgirl left her home with nothing but the clothes she was wearing. But, she asked her father every day for a replacement junior laptop like the one she was forced to leave behind. In December, her dad managed to find the same model for sale in a market in Erbil and purchased it for her.

Rafo Polis: The retired teacher said besides his family, he brought nothing but his faith — his most treasured possession

Adam and Eve (2008) - Syrian Artist AMMAR AL BEIK

[Imagine you have just read a sensationalized and romanticized paragraph here about the beauty and captivating nature of black and white photography]. In this larger series of photographs titled "A Small Wedding", the artist seeks to provoke the viewers to think about two main themes; the first theme is how gender has often been framed, and the other is the relation between past and present. With regards to gender, the artist chose to simply identify each figure with the opposite gender symbol, invoking the viewers to think of gender in non-binary and non-static forms, but rather as fluid and does not necessarily fit within prescribed representations of masculinity and femininity that has dominated the public discourse; which is particularly seen in the photograph on the right in which the artist seeks to deconstruct that 'machismo' image that is often associated with objects such as the military uniform and weapons. 

Beik most clearly questions the immutability of gender in his portraits of “Adam” and “Eve.” Though the first is mired in fearsome masculinity and the second is doe-eyed and softly feminine, each is demarcated by the wrong gender symbol (x)

This past year witnessed a much less number of features relative to 2013's list, which can be viewed here, mainly due to the fact that there was an aim to improve the quality and authenticity of the content presented, and the relevant critiques or reflections. It was however a very reflective year personally, and I sincerely hope the artwork featured has helped you cope and grow emotionally, mentally, and artistically. Thank you to everyone for all of your support, and may the new year bring all of us and our homelands peace, freedom, and an end to oppression. Here is a list of the artists re/featured throughout 2014: 

Afghan Artist GAZELLE SAMIZAY: Introduction / Work

Egyptian Artist AMAL KENAWY: Introduction / Work

Egyptian Artist IMAN ISSA: Introduction / Work

Egyptian-German Artist SUSAN HEFUNA: Introduction / Work

Indian Artist MONALI MEHER: Introduction / Work

Iraqi Artist ABDULQADIR AL RASSAM: Introduction / Work

Iraqi Artist MAHMOUD SABRI: Introduction / Work

Iraqi Artist MAHOOD AHMED: Introduction / Work

Iraqi Artist NEDIM KUFI: Introduction / Work

Iraqi Artist WASSMA ALAGHA: Introduction / Work

Iraqi Artist SADIK KWAISH ALFRAJI: Introduction / Work

Pakistani Artist AISHA KHALID: Introduction / Work

Palestinian Artist ABDULRAHMAN KATANANI: Introduction / Work

Palestinian Artist LAILA SHAWA: Introduction / Work

Saudi Artist NASSER AL SALEM: Introduction / Work 

Syrian Artist AMMAR AL BEIK: Introduction / Work 

They Were Here (2000) إنهم كانوا هُنا - Syrian Artist AMMAR AL BEIK

This short (8 minutes) black and white film retells the realities, stories, faces, and voices of the workers of one of Damascus oldest locomotive factories that came to existence following a flawed industrialization period. While the film highlights the personal experiences and struggles of those workers who have spent more than 30 years in that environment, Ammar's aim is also to speak on the influence the dictatorship of Hafez Al-Assad had on the sustainability of a space and atmosphere that maximized the stresses on those workers; either through foreign trade agreements that halted the national development projects, or/and through the systematic devaluation and exploitation of the workers themselves by the state.

You can watch the full short-film here

Al Houla Massacre (2012) - Syrian Artist AMMAR AL BEIK

In this Mixed Media Installation Ammar al Beik represents his interpretation of/response to Al Houla Massacre that occurred on 25th of May 2012 in Al Houla region in Homs. The systematic massacre which was carried out by Syrian regime forces left more than 100 people dead, mostly children and women who were executed point blank within their homes. The campaign also included massive shelling and bombing of the region. Here, the artist takes on the family name of the Syrian dictators "Al Assad/The Lion" and literally represents it as lion who was brought down by a stab in the heart from a wounded bull, representing the Syrian people. The lion is also seen made from newspaper excerpts of documentations of the murders committed by the current dictator and his father before him against the Syrian people.

Ammar Al Beik عمار البيك is a Syrian filmmaker and multimedia artist who was born in 1972. Unlike many of the artists previously featured, Ammar was not academically trained in the arts, and is in fact a self taught artist and filmmaker who graduated with a degree in Business Administration from Damascus University. Ammar’s passion for the arts, and in particular photograph, began while working for several years at Hayek Studios, one of Syria’s well-known photography and camera repair shops. Following this experience, Ammar Al Beik was given the opportunity to work under the supervision of Syrian filmmaker Mohammed Malas; one of Syria’s earliest auteur filmmakers. Becoming familiar with all the creative and practical elements of photography allowed him to smoothly enter into the field of filmmaking, which eventually culminated in his first film ‘Light Harvest’ winning the Liege Mayor Rewardat the International Film Festival in Belgium in 2000. This early success became the step stone for several other features and awards at international film festivals, such as the Dubai and Venice International Film Fest. 

In 2011, Ammar Al Beik released his first feature film ‘Aspirin and Bullet أسبرين و رصاصة’, which is a 2-hour autobiographical black and white film that follows the conversations and confessions of those souls close to Ammar (check out a scene of this film featured earlier here). Ammar writes about this film: 

Aspirin and a bullet is an audio-visual recording full of confession, poetry, pain and cinema. This recording is the film that sets me free from the heaviness of memory and its complexes. My father and my mother, my friend and our mistresses, all sat in front of me to convey about me and them.

What can be noticed throughout his non-film artwork is that the influence of filmmaking process can still be sensed in those still images/objects; such as frames and film negatives. Following the Syrian revolution, Ammar Al Beik’s art began to take an obligatory political and revolutionary turn to support his people’s struggles as an artist, emphasizing the voices that are suffering within Syria and relaying the messages they seek to deliver to the global world, and most importantly to their fellow Syrians abroad. Ammar was able to accomplish that by sharing the images and stories of those people, by sharing relaying their suffering, and by highlighting the brutality of the dictatorial Syrian regime that has been oppressing Syrians for tens of years. Most of these messages were manifested in paintings and collages, such as “Al Houla Massacre” and “The Last Shabih” paintings. 

In 2008, the wonderful Syrian artist Youssef Abdelke wrote the following about Ammar: