Creative Memory: The Creative Memory of the Syrian Revolution

by Sana Yazigi, October 2016

In July 2015, two pieces of graffiti appeared on a wall in the besieged district of Al-Waer, in the city of Homs: "One day, we'll be what we want to be. The journey hasn't begun and the road is not finished" and "I'm here, this is my trace, a moon will emerge from the darkness."

With these words of hope from the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwich, Syrian men and women are resisting suffering and death, as they aspire to a better future.

The Syrians have become invisible, hidden by the media, who only talk about the fight against radical Islamists, but never about the democratic motivations of the people.

It is as if in Syria there were only Bashar Asad and Daesh, as if individual Syrians did not exist, as if they were not resisting, not loving and not demanding their right

Creative Memory follows the tracks and traces that Syrian artist-activists have left: graffiti, drawings, poetry, photographs, sculptures, paintings, caricatures... Today the site features over 24,000 items in three languages and 22 categories classified according to the date and place of creation and the names of their authors.

This exhibition was commissioned by Festival International des Arts de Bordeaux Métropole (FAB). Produced by the FAB (Bordeaux, France), supported by Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez (Bordeaux, France), coproduced by Scène Nationale Tandem (Arras-Douai, France). First presented in October 2016 during the FAB.