- 18 Nov 2015
Postcard From Syria: What Does It Mean to Make Art in the Midst of Mass Destruction?
The Middle East Institute, London’s Foundation for Art and Psychoanalysis, the Sana Gallery and The Arts House are delighted to invite you to a panel talk entitled:
Postcard From Syria: What Does It Mean to Make Art in the Midst of Mass Destruction?
Syrian artists are sending a vibrant message around the world: Syria is alive, will experience peace and joy again, and will thrive.
In spite of an exodus of some five million Syrians since the civil war erupted in 2011, Syria’s artists refuse to be cowed. Young and old, they continue working in Beirut, Dubai, Doha, Western Europe and elsewhere. Their works often broadcast the hopes for their homeland in a country where hope is in very short supply. Using every available medium, from paintings to sculptures, photographs, videos and digital composites, Syria’s artists are ensuring that the voice of peace is heard.
Through his inaugural exhibition in Sana Gallery entitled “Postcard From Syria: Art Is Peace”, self-thought photographer and world-renowned artist, Issa Touma, provides a vibrant window into Syria’s rich cultural life. In the exhibition, devastating losses combined with fear for the future are drowned in messages of hope and resilience. In this panel talk, Touma will share his experiences of working with the youth of the besieged Aleppo in Le Pont’s Art Camping and other projects in times of war. Whilst Anoushka Grose and Assaad Razzouk will give their professional inputs on the thriving of art in times of war and destruction.
About the Speakers
Artist and Founder
Le Pont, Aleppo (Syria)
Issa Touma (born 16 July 1962 in Tartus, Syria) is a self-taught photographer based in Aleppo. His works can be found in several international collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. In 1992 he opened the Black and White Gallery, the first exhibition space dedicated to photography in the Middle East. After its closure in 1996, he founded Le Pont, an independent organisation and gallery that promotes freedom of expression and stimulates the local art scene through international events: the International Photo Festival (firstheld in 1997) and the International Women’s Art Festival (launched in 1999). In 2012, shortly after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, Le Pont initiated Art Camping for Syrian refugees and citizens of Aleppo. This unique collaborative project, whose participants come from different religious and ethnic backgrounds, attempts to foster resistance to political and religious radicalism through artistic interventions and cultural dialogue. “Has the war put an end to culture? Of course not,” Touma declares. “Young artists have stayed active, forming a society that has united to save as much of our civil life as it can. (…) Our gallery’s message is this: Art is peace.“
Psychoanalyst
Centre for Freudian Analysis and Research
London (UK)
Anouchka Grose is a psychoanalyst and writer practising in London. She is a member of CFAR and The College of Psychoanalysts-UK. Her books include: No More Silly Love Songs: a realist’s guide to romance (Portobello, 2010), Are you Considering Therapy (Karnac, 2011) and Hysteria Today (Editor, Karnac, 2016). She is currently working on a book of essays on psychoanalysis and contemporary culture, due out next year. She also writes for The Guardian newspaper as well as broadcasting on TV and radio, and has taught at Camberwell School of Art.
Entreprenuer and Owner
Sana Gallery (Singapore)
Assaad W. Razzouk is a Lebanese-British investor, clean energy entrepreneur, commentator and art gallery owner. He is Group Chief Executive and Co-Founder of Sindicatum Sustainable Resources, a global sustainable resources company headquartered in Singapore; founder of Singapore and South East Asia’s first Middle Eastern contemporary art gallery, Sana Gallery; and an Advisory Board member of ASrIA, the Association for Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia. He is also affiliated with Washington, D.C.’s Middle East Institute as an Expert at the Middle East – Asia Project. His commentary is published by the Middle East Institute, London’s Independent newspaper, The Ecologist, Corporate Knights, Eco-Business and others. He is a graduate of Syracuse University (Summa Cum Laude) and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Senior Fellow
Office of the President
Lasalle (Singapore)
Milenko Prvacki earned his Master of Fine Arts in painting from the Institute of Fine Arts in Bucharest, Romania and has been in Singapore since the disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1992. He served as the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at LASALLE College of the Arts from 1994 to 2010 and as Senior Fellow in the Office of the President since 2011.
Milenko’s artistic output has deeply enriched the visual arts scene in Singapore. In ‘Construction Site’ (Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, LASALLE College of the Arts, 2002) he examines the process of constructing things and ideas. The exhibition subsequently travelled to Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro and Australia when he participated in the 2006 Biennale of Sydney (Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, Australia, 2006). Other individual exhibitions include ‘Trajectory’ (Combinart Studio, Singapore, 2009) as well as ‘Remembrance of Things Past’ (iPreciation Gallery, Hong Kong, 2012). Milenko’s art has earned him numerous honours, including the Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2010.
He started the Tropical Lab programme in 2005, providing opportunities for LASALLE students to interact with student artists from around the world. Milenko has also been widely consulted on issues related to the arts. He served on the Renaissance City Strategic Planning panel (Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, Singapore) and the Marina Bay Advisory Committee (Urban Redevelopment Authority, Singapore). In addition, he has been actively involved in creating an arts rehabilitation project at Singapore Prisons.
