POSTCARD FROM SYRIA: ART IS PEACE Exhibition Runs From November to January

In "Postcard From Syria: Art Is Peace" self-taught Syrian curator and photographer Issa Touma presents, together with Singapore's Sana Gallery, a vibrant window into Syria's rich cultural life, where even today loss and fears for the future are drowned in messages of hope and resilience.

Most of the artworks for "Postcard From Syria: Art Is Peace" journeyed to Singapore from Aleppo, via Beirut, in yet another poignant Syrian migration story - though this time a migration story for art rather than people.

Some artworks arrived to Beirut by car, others by bus, others were carried on foot. They were gathered slowly there over a period of months, before traveling to Singapore by air and feature works by Syrian artists Hagop Jamkochian (Drawings and Texts), Thaer Hizzi (paintings and sketches), Issa Touma(photography), Yacob Ibrahim (paintings on canvas), Sabhan Adam (painting on canvas) as well as some by the art collective " Art Camping".

The paintings tell stories from inside the city of Aleppo, where photographer Issa Touma and the other residents go days without electricity and water. In Aleppo, security is practically non-existent, and the ebbs and flows of war periodically land on your front door courtesy of bombardments, snipers and battles nearby. Often, residents can't step outside for days and when they do, they take risks unimaginable to the overwhelming majority of humanity that has never seen a war touch it from 50 meters.

Despite it all, Issa Touma still miraculously managed to convene the "12th Aleppo International Photo Festival" earlier in 2015 and the works for "Postcard From Syria: Art Is Peace" feature some from that courageous exhibition.

The show must go on. Because art is peace. Because peace is art.

Through their emphatic, vibrant art scene which won't be cowed, Syrian artists are sending a strident message around the world: Syria is alive, will experience peace and joy again, and will thrive.

Using every available medium, from paintings to sculptures, photographs, videos and digital composites, Syria's artists are ensuring that the voice of peace, the voice of a humane Syria, the voice of peace in a humane Syria, are heard.

Issa Touma, Yacob Ibrahim, Thaer Hizzi and Hagop Jamkochianlive and work in Aleppo.

Art Camping is an Aleppo artists collective led by Issa Toumaand intended as an artistic outlet, especially in times of war, for the local youths. In the series, Texture of the city we Lost .... Aleppo, they visit all ends of the city since the beginning of the civil war and with pen and paper, copy historical features of the city.

Sabhan Adam is a world-renown self- made plastic artist. Today his art is a quasi-independent school that has its own Orwellian nature and his artworks are shown in museums and galleries around the world.

Sana Gallery is Asia's first and only gallery focused on contemporary art from the Middle East.

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