The fifth edition of annual art festival “Syrien N’est Fait” begun alast week under, taking place exclusively online due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The festival, held in Paris every year, is dedicated to the Syrian contemporary art scene, from plastic art, to theatre, cinema, and expressive dance.
The festival was organized by the advocacy alliance of Syrian CSOs, We Exist!, in collaboration with CODSSY, first launched in 2016 by ASML, a French media NGO that supports the development of independent media in Syria. According to media official Omar Al-Asaad, the aim of the festival is to present Syrian cultural and artistic products committed to the issues of freedom and justice to the French public as well as provide a globalized stage for Syrian creativity and art to emphasize their very human and universal features.
Al-Asaad explained that, every year, the festival focuses on a specific topic, this year’s being “Justice and Documentation,” with specialists, academics and experts assisting in submitting and nominating works that fit the theme committed to issues of freedom, justice and human rights.
“There the Dreamland is Exalted” the title for the festival, was taken from “In the Levant”, a poem by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, According to Al-Assaad chosen because justice has been one the great and lasting dreams of the Syrian people for years.
About the virtual nature of this year’s festivities, he said that, “Attending a movie in a hall full of people is different from watching it alone on a computer screen, the same for concerts, seminars or theatrical performance. The possible direct human connection between the audience and the artwork is missing in the virtual experience.”
The "Syrien N'est Fait" festival launched its own website this year, which was not available in the past, as an attempt to be more open to new and different Syrian artistic and cultural experiences, in addition to the trend towards an openness to the arts related to the Arab uprisings and revolutions that took place in the past ten years.
By Faris Rifai
Zaman Al Wasl
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