Charlotte Bank: The Contemporary Art Scene in Syria PDF

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Charlotte Bank The Contemporary Art Scene in Syria. Social Critique and an Artistic Movement The Contemporary Art Scene in Syria focuses on the expanding contemporary art scene in Syria, particularly Damascus, during the first decade of the twenty-first century and considers it within the history o...

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Charlotte Bank The Contemporary Art Scene in Syria. Social Critique and an Artistic Movement The Contemporary Art Scene in Syria focuses on the expanding contemporary art scene in Syria, particularly Damascus, during the first decade of the twenty-first century and considers it within the history of committed and engaged art in the country. The 2000s were characterized by a high degree of experimentation as young artists began to work with artistic media that were new in Syria, such as video, installation and performance art. They were rethinking the role of artists in society and looking for ways to reach audiences in a more direct manner and address socio-cultural and socio-political issues. Published by Routledge 2020

Contents List of figures vii Acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 The Structure of the Book 8 Notes on Transliteration and Titles 10 1 “Culture Is Humanity’s Highest Needs”: Art and Artists between Autonomy and Coercion 12 1.1 Art as an Index of Modernity and Progress: The Syrian “Pioneer” Tawfiq Tarek 14 1.2 The Artist and the State: Navigating Artistic Freedom, Censorship and Threats of Co-Optation 19 1.3 Hopes for Change: Artists and the Artistic Infrastructure in the 2000s under Bashar al-Assad 29 Conclusion 38 2 Commitment, Critique and the Power of Imagination 45 2.1 Artist-Citizen: Commitment and Critique in Syrian Art 46 2.2 Balancing on the Edges: Being an Artist in Twenty-First-Century Syria 52 2.3 Searching for Renewal: Video and Installation Art as Locations of Critique 55 2.4 Whose Art? The Audiences and Reception of Critical Art in Syria 58 Conclusion 60 3 Creating Meaning in Visual Art: Technique, Critique and Subject Matter 64 3.1 On the Borders of Official Ideology: The Issue of Palestine Between Activism and Metaphor 65 3.2 Hidden Menaces: The Metaphor of the Abyss 77 3.3 Critique of Societal Rigidity 84 3.4 Counter-Narratives: When Artists Challenge Official Discourse and Taboos 91 Conclusion 101

4 Singing in the Kingdom of Silence: Syrian Artists and the International Art World 109 4.1 “Branding” Contemporary Arab or Middle Eastern Art 112 4.2 The Missing Link: Syrian Artists and Their Relative Invisibility on the International Art Scene 116 4.3 Increased International Visibility of Syrian Artists after 2011 118 Conclusion 128 Conclusion 133 Bibliography 138 Index 146...