World Civil War Portraits, Sara Shamma (2015) (EMPIRE LINES Live at PEACE FREQUENCIES, Dulwich Picture Gallery, National Museum of Damascus)

In this special episode, contemporary artist Sara Shamma paints experiences of conflict, modern slavery, and hopes for postwar reconstruction, travelling between Syria, Lebanon, and London, in their series, World Civil War Portraits (2015).

*Content Warning* This episode discusses rape and other forms of sexual violence.

Syria has a ‘young’ or ‘short’ art history, in Western/European terms. The country’s first galleries and art schools appeared in the 1960s, offering little contemporary arts education or practice. Working within - and rebelling against - these institutions, Damascus-born artist Sara Shamma taught themselves to paint ‘as an Old/Dutch Master’, referencing the likes of Rembrandt and Rubens in their large-scale, expressive, portraits. In their 2023 exhibition, Bold Spirits, Sara’s figurative paintings were displayed in conversation with these figures, at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London. And now, 25 years after graduating, the artist returns to the National Museum of Damascus with a survey spanning their personal and artistic journey through Lebanon and the UK in the twelve years since the start of the civil war. ‘I decided to keep one or two paintings from each project, to exhibit them all in Syria when the time was right,’ says Sara. ‘Now, it’s time for them to come home.’

In this conversation from 2023, when Sara was still living in London, the artist describes their decades of migrations between Dulwich and Damascus. Sara first left Syria for work, in 2000, with exhibitions in Britain as part of the the BP Portrait Prize, and a British Council partnership with Coventry, a city admired as a model for postwar reconstruction. In 2016, Sara relocated to London on an Exceptional Talent Visa but, during this period, continued to travel to their homeland frequently, working from their studio in the city, and engaging with wider Arab art communities. Through global exhibitions, Sara is now one of Syria’s most internationally recognised artists.

We touch on Syria’s changing position, as part of the Ottoman Empire and a French Mandate, during the 20th century, and the permeable borders that permitted their refuge in the years of President Bashar al-Assad’s violent regime. Sara describes their interest in biology, visiting butchers and mortuaries during their studies, and ‘surrealist eye’ on everyday life. We discuss Sara’s research into modern slavery, trafficking, and rape cultures, speaking with women during their time as artist-in-residence with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College London (KCL). Sara explains how they translate oral testimonies and traumatic experiences through their artistic practice, and why music is their universal language, travelling from Sufi Asia, to the blues of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.

This episode was recorded live as part of PEACE FREQUENCIES, a 24 hour live radio broadcast to mark International Human Rights Day in December 2023, and 75 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Listen back to the recordings with Manthia Diawara and Billy Gerard Frank online, and find all the information in the first Instagram post: instagram.com/p/C0mAnSuodAZ

Sara Shamma: Bold Spirits ran at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London until 25 February 2024.

Sara Shamma: Echoes of 12 Years runs at the National Museum of Damascus until 31 January 2025.

PRODUCER: Jelena Sofronijevic.

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