Article
Senior Fellow Eugenie Becker was inspired for her Action Project by a close Syrian friend who introduced her to many talented Syrian activists, whose important work was mostly unheard outside of Syria. In 2017, together with two other Humanity in Action Senior Fellows, Sarah Bhatti and Karam Yahya, the three of them decided to organize an exhibition.
The precarious situation of Syria and Syrians has been exploited to implement nationalist politics and fuel xenophobia in many European countries. The everyday flood of images of violent conflicts in the news or social media does not leave much time for reflection and personal connection to the displayed situation and the people behind the camera or easel.
Al Karama- Testimonies provides a platform for unheard voices. It strives to display Syrians’ personal perspectives and their appeals to the international community. With the artists’ testimonies, the ongoing humanitarian crisis is stressed, from which no one should look away.
The Senior fellows connected with a network of artists and photographers to find people that were interested in joining the project, while developing their interview questions.
This Action Project provides a space for Syrian artists and photographers to display their opinions and perspectives on the situation in their home countries.
The three Fellows then started collecting interview material, as well as paintings and photographs, while making sure that each person was given their individual and creative freedom in expressing themselves. After collecting the content they composed the website with interviews and photo galleries.