Syrian Freedom Artists

Friday 7 February, 16 hrs - presentation of results
3 - 6 February the private workshops 'On Responsibility' at the KABK
Location: PIP, BINK36, Binckhorstlaan 36, Den Haag
Photo album on facebook: click here

Part of See You in The Hague

The political importance of art is self-evident, judging by the many attacks on artists through the ages. And also today writers, visual artists and theater people in war zones all over the world are under a constant threat of torture, captivity in detention centers, and even death.

In concurrence with See You in The Hague (SYiTH) three artists of the former Syrian poster and graffiti collective Alshaab Alsori Aref Tarekh (The Syrian People Know Their Way) have been invited to develop strategies of artistic resistance together with students from The Netherlands, in a context that is drastically different from a war zone.

Visitors to the Middle East are immediately struck by the use of graffiti and posters on the walls of houses and buildings: there is a constant war going on between the various political factions, spraying tags on each others posters or tearing off messages. The members of Alshaab Alsori Aref Tarekh also designed posters, clandestinely shared them over the internet (as print-on-demand) and thus rebelled against the monolithic iconography of Assad in Syria's public space.

The three Syrian artists will work with students from the department of Graphic Design of the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in The Hague to examine which visuals resources can be used effectively in the public domain, beyond the borders of language. This can be literally in The Hague's public space, but also on the internet, in the digital public domain or with mobile phones.

www.kabk.nl

PRESS
AD Haagsche Courant, 7 February 2014 (in Dutch)