Damascus-Sana
From one of the squares of Damascus, the Arabian horse, who had always carried its defenders of its knights to quench its thirst for the water of its veggie, overlooked the neighborhoods of the oldest capital in history, in the form of a sculpture mixed with the spirit of the East, made by the fingertips of the Syrian sculptor Hussam Jundi, with a height of nearly four meters.
And whoever sees the simple and modest Junda's studio, he is surprised at how he was able within this place, with simple tools, to accomplish a large sculptural work in a way that went out of the ordinary and achieved a visual vision that left a beautiful impression for everyone who saw it.
The selection of soldiers for the Arabian horse as the subject of his sculpture did not come in vain, as shown in an interview with Sana Cultural, as this object still symbolizes our history and identity and indicates steadfastness and pride.
Regarding what was raised about the work as an imitation of a foreign work, soldiers explain that the sculpture of a horse that drinks water is present in many countries of the world, considering that when an artist presents it in some way, a later artist will develop it in accordance with his country, history and civilization, and the process of reintroducing the idea in a new way according to his opinion of The basis of the development of the arts.
He indicates that he sought to give the sculpture a Syrian character, which prompted some specialists in plastic art and critics to find in this work the spirit of the East and away from the stagnation that we notice in other copies.
In order for the soldiers to deal with the difficulties encountered during the execution, he divided the work into several stages because his small studio was not qualified to complete a sculpture of this size, and he made a hole in the ground to place his sculpture in it, relying on his imagination as an artist in achieving the visual vision of the work bypassing the small size of the place and the inability to view the work remotely .
The work, which soldiers began implementing at the beginning of the year, took three months to complete and started from a small model he made and on its basis he undertook the zooming process, indicating that the quarantine conditions and measures to address the Corona virus prevented the work from being delivered last March.
Regarding what was raised on social media about removing the horse sculpture after placing it and then fixing it again, soldiers pointed out that the initial installation was temporary in order to fill the water body and study the visual vision of the whole scene during the hours of the day and at night, as it discovered technical problems related to lighting and it was necessary to amend it without presence The sculpture, after making adjustments within 24 hours, was returned to its original place.
The soldiers of the moment he saw his sculpture in its final place, and the feelings of all fatigue he experienced, created for him an incentive to make this work a starting point for him and will push him to slow down more in his next choices.
Regarding the material he used in the sculpture, soldiers mention that he replaced bronze due to its high cost with the aged polyester material with bronze colors and its coloring in proportion to the day, night and lighting.
"As a plastic artist, I see this sculptural work as appropriate as a symbol, theme and timing in facing the difficult circumstances we are going through, and it indicates our ability to confront them," said Junda, pointing out that this experience created a dialogue between people and provided him with new artistic and social standards when choosing his next work.
The horse sculpture was not the first work of soldiers in the framework of street art. Rather, he previously carried out a sculptural work in Jadidat Artouz, the heroic Syrian soldier who sacrificed his most precious possession in defense of his homeland.
On ways to advance the relationship between sculpture and the general public, soldiers see that this art needs love, honesty and originality to be more popular, especially since we have many beautiful artistic talents and assets, and it is necessary not to remain captive to individualism, calling for a real curriculum and the allocation of a skilled cadre in artistic academies to produce impressive results Fits our creative human being with all standards and disciplines.
Soldiers are currently working to accomplish a sculptural work that talks about the war on Syria and the steadfastness of the Syrian woman and its role in building the human being, as she embraces a ten-year-old child and pushes him forward within a rocky base that symbolizes the difficult reality in which we live with her insistence on steadfastness and steadfastness.
In an exhibition monitoring the opinions of those with experience of this new experience, plastic artist Waddah Salama, Director of the Technical Institute for Applied Arts, found that this work achieved a high percentage of beauty because it was busy with craftsmanship and creativity, pointing out that the reproduction in plastic art is present and natural, especially if the sculptural work is beautifully presented, encouraging The spread of such distinct sculptural works in our squares due to our need for a visual vision that spreads beauty and leaves a positive impact on the recipient.
International plastic artist Suhail Badour described the sculpture with a very beautiful work and is busy with great mastery and high professionalism, pointing out that despite it being copied, this does not defect the sculptor or the sculptor, especially since it was executed in a professional manner at a height of four meters and this is not easy at all.
Shatha Hammoud
