Where art leads: Syria’s extraordinary contemporary art goes global.

“Modern art exhibition, Damascus.” ©2005 Charles Roffey. License: CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Ruben Sanchez, “Alas para volar,” 2014. Photo courtesy: European Commission DG ECHO, ©2014 Samantha Robinson | AptArt. License: CC BY-ND 2.0.

“Engaged in the fate of their country as dissidents, witnesses, and cultural interventionists, Syrian artists have openly questioned the role of art at every turn, publicly discussing the ways in which form and representation can be used to communicate the consequent realities of war.” —Maymanah Farhat, “Syria’s Apex Generation” contemporary art exhibition.

“That life should lead us here…”

A nomadic art in exile, Syrian contemporary art is flourishing on a global scale.

Doing some pinning re: Syrian contemporary art. Not the usual full deal— just a little collecting into a private board for later repinning.

— Desk. (@leanneriding) August 3, 2014

Here is Tammam Azzam, “Gustav Klimt’s ‘The Kiss,’” 2013, via Seismopolite http://t.co/B6UWiHYpON pic.twitter.com/Ye9JO9mFmf

— Desk. (@leanneriding) August 3, 2014

Latest pins! Syria’s “Spray Men,” graffiti activism, a global outpouring of exile art, and the new Syrian art school: http://t.co/ugtdFzLSgw

— Desk. (@leanneriding) August 4, 2014

Astonishing/heatbreaking thing to remember about Syria’s civil war is that it was sparked by a group of kids painting graffiti on a wall.

— Desk. (@leanneriding) August 4, 2014

It wasn’t that the kids wrote anything particularly inspiring— war was ignited by rage about the incredibly cruel punishment that followed.

— Desk. (@leanneriding) August 4, 2014

#Art Video by Kevork Mourad -Syrian artist Sound by Kinan Azmeh http://t.co/pVmpoirhUD

— Ania (@annaeva14) July 31, 2014

أغنية العيد: http://t.co/pixlMWg4lL via @youtube

— tammam azzam (@tammamazzam) October 14, 2013

“It began with the graffiti.”

“Banksy Girl and Heart Balloon,” South Bank, London, England. ©2004 Dominic Robinson. License: CC BY-SA 2.0.