Mehr als 50 syrische KünstlerInnen / SchriftstellerInnen / AktivistInnen kommen in diesem vielgestaltigen Kompendium des zeitgenössischen syrischen Kulturschaffens zu Wort und Bild. Beeindruckend ist deren starke Überzeugung, dass Kunst nicht nur hilft, Gewalt zu überstehen, sondern sie auch herausfordert. Die Revolution begann 2011 friedlich, war jedoch bereits 2012 völlig militarisiert. Der Standpunkt, dass Kunst ein Werkzeug des Widerstandes gegen das Regime von Assad darstelle, musste insofern korrigiert werden, dass es nun galt, vielen unterschiedlichen lebensfeindlichen Gruppierungen entgegenzustehen.
Syria speaks beginnt mit einem Text über das Massaker in Hama. Eine Greueltat, die aktiv vom Regime vertuscht und lediglich als "Ereignis 1982" bezeichnet werden durfte. Viele junge Menschen erlebten während den friedlichen Demonstrationen 2011 zum ersten Mal, wie brutal das Regime gegen ZivilistInnen vorging. Es war ein Augenöffner, und viele begannen die Ereignisse 1982 anders zu sehen oder überhaupt wahrzunehmen. Das Buch zeigt in bemerkenswerter Weise mit welch anerkennungswürdiger Kraft, die Aufarbeitung der Geschichte und Verarbeitung der aktuellen Ereignisse mit Stift, Pinsel, Kamera und Computer angegangen wurde. Ein sehr empfehlenswerter Einstieg in die Gedankenwelt der syrischen Protestbewegung. ap
Klappentext:
Syria Speaks is a celebration of a people determined to reclaim their dignity, freedom and self-expression. It showcases the work of over fifty artists and writers who are challenging the culture of violence in Syria. Their literature, poems and songs, cartoons, political posters and photographs document and interpret the momentous changes that have shifted the frame of reality so drastically in Syria. Moving and inspiring, Syria Speaks is testament to the courage, creativity and imagination of the Syrian people.
In Syria, culture has become a critical line of defence against tyranny.
Über die Autorin / über den Autor:Malu Halasa is an editor and writer based in London. Her books include Creating Spaces of Freedom: Culture in Defiance (2002); Kaveh Golestan: Recording the Truth in Iran (2007); and The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie: Intimacy and Design (2008), with Rana Salam. She co-edits the occasional book series, Transit, which features new Middle Eastern writing and visual culture, and includes Transit Beirut (2004) and Transit Tehran (2008), the latter co-edited with Maziar Bahari. She co-curated three exhibitions of Syria's art of resistance in 2012-13 in Amsterdam, Copenhagen and London. Her essays, publications, exhibitions and lectures showcase the culture and politics of a complex and changing Middle East.
Nawara Mahfoud is a Syrian freelance journalist who has worked for the New York Times. She blogs for the New Yorker's website, among other publications. She was a co-curator of the Culture in Defiance exhibition in Amsterdam, Copenhagen and London.
Zaher Omareen is a Syrian researcher and writer who has published articles and short stories in the Arab and English press. His short story "First Safety Manoeuvre" won a prize awarded by the Danish Institute in Damascus and by the 2012 Copenhagen Festival of Literature. He has worked on independent cultural initiatives in Syria and Europe, and co-curated exhibitions on the art of the Syrian uprising. He studied Media, Journalism and Theatrical and Dramatic Arts in Damascus, and holds an MA in Media and Cultural Studies from Sussex University. He is a PhD candidate in Contemporary Documentary Cinema and New Media at Goldsmiths College, London, and is completing Tales of the Orontes River, a collection of short stories drawn from the collective memories of the 1982 Hama massacre.
Preis: CHF 28.90
