Syrian plastic art in 2022... a distinguished presence locally and globally

Damascus-SANA

Syrian plastic art was strongly present in the cultural arena for the year 2022, so it scattered its motifs of sculpture, drawing, portraiture, photography and photography on the corridors of many public and private galleries, presenting young artistic faces, and performances by veterans who have emerged in the world of plastic art, through local, Arab and international exhibitions, individual and collective, and even retrospectives.

The Ministry of Culture and the Directorate of Fine Arts worked hard to present this art in the best way through activities and events that covered all governorates, in addition to honoring creators and artistic figures with competitions and prizes locally and globally, not to mention the exhibitions that shed light on emotional, national and social issues.

Plastic art this year was not without the names and addresses of great artistic figures and unique creations, such as the obsessions and emotions that were embodied by (paper) in an exhibition by the plastic artist Asmaa Fayoumi, and the secrets of Scheherazade by plastic artist Muhammad Al-Olabi, and nostalgia for the past in the paintings of Ammar Shawa. As for the resurrection of oaks, it shed light on plastic art. In the life of the late poet Khaled Abu Khaled.

The year 2022 witnessed joint exhibitions between Syria and friendly countries that brought together humanitarian issues on artistic paintings, in which the concerns of the peoples of the world emerged, such as (Nikolskoy.. Destinies Calling), the exhibition that documented the terrorist acts that affected Maaloula and Nikolskoy, as well as an exhibition with the lenses of plastic artists, in which they presented photographs that reflected the Syrian reality. .

The paintings toured around the world to present the civilized face of Syria with all the expressive colors of plastic art. The Syrian expatriate artist in Canada, Randa Hijazi, was able to achieve distinction and a prominent presence by winning the silver medal for her participation in an art exhibition held in the Royal Hall of Saint Madeleine Church in Paris. Paintings by artist Hayam Salman as a cultural bridge between Syria and Japan in an exhibition held in the Japanese capital, Tokyo.

An exhibition was held in Moscow by the artist Nizar Sabour, entitled “Life does not die.” The Arab Cultural Club in the Emirate of Sharjah celebrated the works of the Syrian plastic artist Bashir Bashir by hosting his 31st solo exhibition entitled “Formation and Abstraction.”

The exhibition was inaugurated by the Syrian expatriate artist in Switzerland, Moufid Hanna, and the Zenobia Women's Association in Australia, in cooperation with the Queen Victoria Center for Women, held its first art exhibition under the title of Hope.

The international Syrian artist, Sarah Shamma, participated in the painting (Mira and Sanjeev) in the summer exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts in London 2022, and Syrian plastic art attended the art exhibition “Ishraqat 2022”, which was held in Dubai with contemporary Arab plastic art.

The retrospective exhibitions reflected an important role for the level of artistic experiences of generations of seasoned artists, as well as youth artistic experiences striving to make their own mark, including an exhibition by the artist Ezz El-Din Shammout, an art exhibition in Aleppo, a tribute to the spirit of the artist Fateh Al-Mudarres, and an exhibition entitled “The Generation of Modernity” for the works of 35 artists from the pioneers of the movement. Syrian plastic arts, and a retrospective exhibition of the works of the Syrian sculptor Fouad Abu Assaf on the occasion of the first anniversary of his death, and thirty works in Syrian graphic art within the seventh retrospective exhibition.

All this artistic creativity was crowned with various individual and collective honorary awards for all types and specializations of plastic art, as well as for pioneering artistic personalities and various competitions, including honoring the winners of the poster competition for the second season, and honoring pioneering Syrian icons in plastic art, in addition to international awards won by each of the Syrian plastic artists. Saba Razzouk won the International Peace Prize in Japan, and the artist Raed Khalil won an award at an international festival in Romania.

The wider artistic space began in the fifth season of the Syrian Fine Art Days, which was launched by the Ministry of Culture in the tenth month to celebrate the centenary of the artist, teacher Fateh Al-Mudarres, under the slogan “Seventy Years of Modernity,” which is a reference to the passage of seventy years since his painting Kafr Jannah won the first prize, in the annual exhibition. The third in 1952, which was considered the beginning of the history of modernity in Syrian plastic art.

The celebration included the holding of many exhibitions in public and private galleries, academic seminars and professional competitions, including the annual autumn exhibition in the Damascus Citadel, the Modernity Exhibition in the People’s Hall, the Portrait Competition inspired by the works of Fateh Al-Mudarres in the Damascus Citadel, and the poster design competition in the Al-Assad National Library.

As for the Meshwar Gallery, it presented a panoramic presentation of the stages that the plastic movement in Syria lived through, through the available publications and catalogs issued in different periods, in addition to invitations to official and private exhibitions that the Syrian plastic movement witnessed throughout the Syrian geography.

The days of the Syrian formation included honoring great artistic figures such as Mamdouh Kashlan, Elias Al-Zayyat and Ali Al-Kafri in an exhibition that included more than 50 participants, and honoring the plastic artist Sawsan Jalal on the anniversary of her first death. Young academic artists.

Fine art this year carried important national and social issues embodied in many artistic works, such as the issue of women presented by the exhibition of Syrian women, a butterfly of iron and (women .. opposite visions in the works of Nazir Nabaa and Laila Naseer). As for the issue of resistance, it was through an art exhibition It opened on the occasion of International Quds Day in the Iranian Cultural Center in Lattakia, and an exhibition entitled Jerusalem is the Axis was organized by the Union of Palestinian Plastic Artists on the occasion of International Quds Day and was hosted by the People’s Hall. The Palestinian cause and its symbols also emerged in the visions of 40 artists, male and female, on Earth Day.

Human issues and concerns of peoples are part of the messages of love, peace and historical messages in which the civilized image of Syria emerged through the art exhibition held by the Lillette Gallery and organized by the Ministry of Culture and the Russian Cultural Center in the Palace of Prince Abdul Qadir Al-Jazaery in Damascus, and the digital exhibition on the historical mosaics in Syria entitled “Still Syria is the source of the arts.

Sculpture reserved a special place this year through the distinguished works of 15 sculptors at the First Syrian Sculpture Forum in Tartous and the Sixth Selina Forum. Technically and visually, it is important among the works of several generations belonging to contemporary Syrian plastic art.

The Syrian plastic movement lost creative artistic figures who presented immortal works of art in the history of Syrian plastic art, including the great plastic artist Elias Al-Zayyat, the Palestinian plastic artist Ali Al-Kafri, the distinguishing mark in the Syrian formation, Major Mamdouh Kashlan, the plastic artist and sculptor Dr. Abdullah Al-Sayed, and the plastic artist Fidaa Mansour.

The virtues of Awad

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