The Syrian Cultural Caravan is an artistic and cultural movement led by Syrian artists. Started in 2014 as a project called "Freedom for the Syrian People", it took the form of a road trip, taking off from France and continuing across Europe. In face of the success met in 2014, the project became a movement entitled the "Syrian Cultural Caravan".
The project aims at bringing a wide diversity of artists together around a multi-format exhibition mixing paintings, photographs, dance, music, film screenings, as well as debates and the sharing of food. The goal of the project is "to promote Syrian civil society and contemporary Syrian art and culture" by debunking the public's expectations. Artists create a platform for debate on which they can offer their own narrative to counterweight the mainstream narrative of the media.
Route
The Syrian cultural caravan started its road trip in 2014, on July 12, in Paris. It drove to the South of France, and then to Italy, Germany and ended up in Brussels on September 28, 2014. With 14 different stops and more than 6,500 km, the project encountered great success, thus encouraging the artists to make another road trip in 2015, travelling another 10,000 km and performing in another 11 places. The cultural caravan also has events planned for the summer 2016.
2014 The cultural caravan started its adventure on July 12, 2014. To celebrate the departure, it had organised a performance, eventually cancelled due to the weather, in la Cartoucherie de Vincennes, in front of the Théâtre du Soleil. Its first stops were in the Gard Region, where it performed in 9 different towns:
Fons-sur-Lussans, July 15, 2014. Lussan, July 16, 2014. La Lèque, July 17, 2014. Mèze, July 18, 2014. Avignon, July 19, 2014. Mucem in Marseille, July 21 and 22 2014. Bonnieux, July 23, 2014. Saint-Amant-Roche-Savine, July 25, 2014 for the Belle Rouge festival, Lyon July 26 to 28 2014.
Then the Cultural Caravan crossed European borders to Italy and Germany: Milan, August 2, 2014. Berlin, August 7, 2014.
It came back to the North-East of France and stopped in two cities: Strasbourg, August 22 to 23 2014 Metz, August 25 and 26 2014.
The tour ended in Brussels Fine Arts Centre on September 28.
Finally, the caravan came back to Paris and participated in the Bastille Quartier Libre festive on October 11. On the whole, it travelled across four countries, organised 17 events in 14 different cities and villages, including 15 exhibitions, three poetry recitals, five drama recitals, three conferences, nine film screenings, and two dance performances.
2015
In face of the great success met during the tour of summer 2014, the Syrian Cultural Caravan reorganised a road trip for spring and summer 2015, based this time on the various invitations to perform they had received from cities and art centres. In the spring, it travelled to northern Europe. Bergen, Norway, May 29 to 31 2015. Artists performed for the Bergen International Festival, an event mixing music and culture. They had been invited by the Knipsu. The event was supported by Bergen City and the Freedom of Speech Foundation in Oslo. Pulheim, Germany, June 4 to 7 2015. It performed for the Fair of Contemporary Art organised by Art' Pu:l. Bochum, Germany, June 9, 2015, on the invitation of the organisation Ifak.
In summer 2015, the Caravan started its summer road trip in Paris at Le Point Éphémère on July 18. They performed again in the Parisian cultural alternative centre on July 19, and then took off for the Gard Region: Ales, July 23, 2015. Uzès, July 26, 2015. Montclus, July 30, 2015. La Lèque, August 6, 2015. La Roche Canilhac, August 8, 2015. Saint-Julien-les-Rosiers and Barjac, October 16 and 17 2015.
In September, it crossed the border again to go to Barcelona.
Plurality of formats The Syrian cultural caravan presents a polymorphous exhibition, which mobilizes different media, in a variety of exhibiting places, and includes artists of diverse backgrounds.
A wide diversity of media are used by the Syrian Cultural Caravan. This includes visual arts, such as paintings and photographs. But the exhibition also comprises dance and music performances, poems, and film screenings. Debates are an important part of the exhibition, as well as a meal prepared by the Caravan and shared with the public.
The Syrian cultural caravan reaches out to various different artists to create this multi-format exhibition. It brings together painters, photographers, as well as actors, film-makers, writers, poets, and musicians. The artists themselves act as technical staff and set up the exhibition. They also manage the contact with the media and are present during the whole day of the exhibition to explain and answer the public's questions.
Finally, the caravan performs in very heterogeneous places. Not only does it exhibit in many different European countries, it also goes as much to major cities – such as Paris, Berlin or Brussels – as to small towns of the Gard region. In each of these sites, the exhibition can happen inside – in the Mucem for example – but also in the streets, or in a park – as in Bergen.
Participants A total of 30 artists are involved in the project. However, they are not all present all the time. Some of them come for specific stops only. Mohamad al Roumi is the main organizer of the project. Five artists work alongside him to carry out the movement: Amélie Duhamel, Florence Aubin, Khlouloud Al Zghayare, Walaa Dakak and Walid El Masri. The Syrian cultural caravan aims to create ties with the places they go to by collaborating with local artists. Therefore, numerous local artists also contribute to the project.
Curator Razan Nassreddine: She was born in a Syrian-Lebanese family. She graduated in French literature from University of Damascus, as well as in Inter-Mediterranean Mediation from Universities of Montpellier III, France, UAB in Barcelona, and Ca'Foscari, in Venice. She is a scholar and curator. She was artistic advisor for the Cultural Diary of Damascus and the curator of Syrian film screenings in the Berlin exhibition KunstStoff Syrien 2014.
Dance
Eyas Al Mokdad: He was born in Syria, where he graduated from the ballet school of Damascus Higher Institute of Dramatic Art. He also graduated from a master in multimedia at Brussels' Luca School of Art, Belgium. He is a choreographer and a dancer and he also makes movies such as The Last Time (2006), Bloodshed (2012) or The Other Half of your Shadow (2013).
Mey Seifan: She is a choreographer trained in 1987 in Damascus' first ballet school. She kept on studying in the Superior Institute of Dramatic Arts in Frankfurt. She lives in Munich, Germany, and works as a dancer and dance teacher between Germany and Syria. She choreographed the project "Consequences" and founded the Damascus Contemporary Dance Platform and the Tanween Company. Her main topic of interest are the dreams of Syrians immersed in the conflict.
Rami Hassoun: He was born in 1989. He is both a dancer and a choreographer and mixes capoeïra, hip-hop and contemporary dance. In 2010, he performs his solo work Ligne Blanche at the festival Bruits de la passion.
Film-making Ammar Al Beik: Filmmaker & Visual Artist. He was born in 1972 in Damascus. He makes docu-fiction, has contributed to exhibitions and programs worldwide for nearly two decades, most recently at Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice (2015); Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul (2015); FotoFest Biennial, USA (2014); Samsung Blue Square and the Busan Museum of Art, South Korea (2014); and Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2012). His works are housed in private and public collections such as the Centre Pompidou; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and Museum of Modern Art, New York. Al-Beik's films have screened at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale); International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR); Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival (YIDFF); Cinéma du Réel, International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA); São Paul International Film Festival (MOSTRA); Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF); Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX); Locarno International Film Festival; among other venues. He now lives and works in Berlin.
Darina Al Joundi: Actress. She was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1968 and started her career at 8 years old. She is also a playwright for drama and television.
Meyar al Roumi: He was born in 1973 in Damascus, where he studied fine arts. He also studied in Paris VIII and graduated from Femis. He has directed documentaries including A silent film in 2001, Waiting for the day in 2004, and The Club of the Future in 2006. He has also directed fiction: the short movie The Voyage of Rabia in 2006 and the long-movie Round trip in 2012.
Mohamad al Roumi: he was born in 1945 in Aleppo, Syria, and graduated in fine arts in 1972 in Damascus. He worked first as a painter before turning to photography. He directed in 2012 a documentary, Blue-Grey.
Music
Catherine Estrade & Vincent Commaret: They form a music duo who write, compose and perform folk songs. They lived for four years in Damascus and are now living in Marseille, France, since 2004.
Hassan Taha: He was born in 1968 in Homs, Syria. He is a self-taught musician. He studied horn and Oud instruments at Damascus Higher institute of Music, as well as composition in the Conservatory of Maastricht and completed his master in Bern, Switzerland, where he low lives. He performed in Switzerland, Germany, as well as Syria, Lebanon and Tunisia.
Khaled al Jaramani: He was born in 1972 in Syria. He studied oud with Professor Faye Zher Eddine, Munir Bashir and Nasser Chema. He also studied in the Higher Institute for Music in Damascus and performed with the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra, the Arab Music Orchestra, as well as soloist in the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris in 2011.
Mohanad Aljaramani: He was born in 1979 in Sweida, Syria. He graduated from the Higher Institute for Music in Damascus in 2008. He co-founded the trio "Bab Assalam" with Raphaël Vuillard and Khaled al Jaramani in Aleppo in 2007. He performed with the National Conservatory and with the Damascus Opera from 2005 to 2011.
Naïssam Jalal: She was born in Paris in a Syrian family. She studied classical flute since she was 6 and graduated from the Commission française pour l'enseignement des mathématiques. She kept on studying the nay (traditional Middle-Eastern flute) at Damascus Institute of Arabic Music. She worked in Cairo with the master violinist Abdo Dagher and played with Egyptian and African musicians. She also plays jazz.
Painting Ahmad Kaddour: Born in Syria, he studied in the Damascus University Faculty of Fine Arts and graduated in 1985. He also studied in École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts based in Paris. His media are diverse, encompassing painting, drawing, video and screen-printing. Beyond this artistic creations, he has also published two books: Seattle in 1994 and Quleques heures, quelques hivers in 1998. He has taught workshops in Paris since 2008.
Akram Al Halabi: He was born in Majdal Shams in 1980. He studied visual art techniques at the art house of Bait al Fan between 1997 and 2000. His teacher was Wael Tabard. He also studied in Ammam, Jordan, in Damascus, Syria, as well as in Vienna, Austria, and Sweden. He is a founding member and volunteer at Fatheh Mudarris Center of Arts.
Ali Kaaf: He was born of Syrian parents in Oran, Algeria, in 1977. He studied art both at Beirut Faculty of Fine Arts in Lebanon, and Berlin University of Arts in Germany. He uses several materials including videos, photographies as well as glass and paper to explore themes of erosion and resistance. He won in 2001 several awards: the Young Collector's at the Rome MAXXI Museum, the DAAD-Preis UdK, the AIR Honor Award from Berkeley's KAL.