As part of ‘Celebrating Syria' Festival 2018, a thought-provoking discussion took place on 11 October at 'HOME'. The discussion aimed to answer the following questions: What is it like to be a female artist at a time of war and revolution? How do Syrian women artists express themselves as individual women while still represent their people’s struggle for freedom and dignity? And is there a conflict between the two forms of expression? How has the Syrian Revolution shaped Syrian women’s creative work and how have they advanced the cause of the Revolution?
Panelists, graphic designer and curator Sana Yazigi and film maker and activist Muzna Al-Naib, explored how Syrian women artists advanced the cause of the revolution and how the Revolution shaped their creative work and gave them a defiant voice. That voice was not only against the regime but against all forms of oppression in a male-dominated society. The well-engaged audience enjoyed the discussion and raised many pertinent points.
Muzna Al-Naib
Muzna is a writer, artist, blogger and activist who lived in Damascus during the revolution and was involved in peaceful activism on the ground. Since coming to the UK in 2014, Muzna has been working on advocating for the protection of civilians in Syria and for the freedom of all those who have been forcibly disappeared.
Muzna Al-Naib has an MA in Media an
Sana Yazigi:
Sana is a graphic designer, and the founder and editor in chief of the archiving project, the Creative Memory of the Syrian Revolution; an online archive of all types of creative expressions produced since the beginning of the Revolution in 2011 until the present day. Sana is also the founder and manager of the initiative: “Alwan” therapy for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and the founder and editor in chief of Syria’s first monthly cultural agenda, The Cultural Diary, that covered the cultural and artistic activities in Damascus and other cities of Syria between 2007-2012