Syrian artist hopes to show human cost of conflict in new London exhibition

4/18/2015



Exiled painter Sara Shamma, a former leading light of the Damascus art scene, wants to open people’s eyes to the realities of the war in her homeland

One of Syria’s most well-known and striking artists, now exiled in the Lebanon, will bring her unsettling new work to Britain next month, in an attempt to share her experience of loss and fears for the future. Sara Shamma, once a leading lights of the art scene in Damascus, has given her show the title World Civil War Portraits to reflect her belief that the conflict tearing her city apart has wider implications, not only in the Middle East, but in Europe.

“This conflict is spreading all over the world,” the 39 year old told the Observer this weekend, “and, as it spreads, even to a country like France, the fear is spreading, too. I describe it as a World Civil War because the people attacking each other are often from the same country. This is what I want people to be more aware of, rather than some idea of terrorism from far away.”

Shamma, who was shortlisted for the BP portrait prize in London in 2004, moved out of Damascus with her two children in 2012, when a car bomb exploded outside her house. It was not an easy decision.

“A number of terrible moments pushed me to it, starting with the noises of fighting we would hear in the night. My husband and I took our children to a safe place, when it was very bad, and I painted my daughter that night, rather than sleeping,” she said. The key moment came a few days later.

in full: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/apr/19/syrian-artist-war-paintings-exhibition-london