The vibrant Syrian art scene part 1
Syria has always had a lively visual arts scene. Appreciated by regional Arab collectors it failed in turn to attract the attention of the West, where Syrian art was seen as a decorative mix between...
View ArticleThe vibrant Syrian art scene part 2
The old city of Damascus counts dozens of ateliers and artists initiatives, especially in the Jewish quarter, which was neglected after most of its inhabitants emigrated to Israel. For example...
View ArticleExhibition of Mahmoud Dayoub in The Hague
I recently set up an exhibition in the headquarters of the Humanistic Institute for Development Cooperation (Hivos) in The Hague. The works are by the young Syrian artist Mahmoud Dayoub. Hivos...
View ArticleCan we still believe in revolution?
Rojava Day 1 My first impression in Rojava, the autonomous Kurdish area in northeastern Syria, is that everything seems quite normal. For a small region still engaged in the fight against the Islamic...
View ArticleLife and death in Rojava
Day 2 in Northwestern Syria We spent a long time talking with soldiers from the YPJ Amuda brigade. The YPJ is the Kurdish women’s militia; they claim to be about 50% of the Kurdish front line fighters,...
View ArticleNew World Summit in Rojava – Day 1
The 5th edition of the New World Summit opened today in Derik / Al Malikiyyah in northwestern Syria. The event, which was supposed to take place within the huge parliamentary structure being built by...
View ArticleThe Rojava Revolution
This article is awaiting publication, in this or a modified form A unique experiment in ‘stateless democracy’ and effective armed resistance against ISIS in Northern Syria is led by Kurdish women....
View ArticleArticle about Jonas Staal in Syria
Closing ceremony of the New World Summit in Derik, Syria I published this article in the December 2015 edition of The Art Newspaper – with first a ‘news’ story on page 3, and then a feature on pages...
View ArticleRaqqa DeZ peace conference – role playing simulation
This simulation of a peace conference is the final class of my Lessons (Not) Learnt in Afghanistan course at the Paris School of International Affairs. I will be tweeting about the results in live,...
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