Since Syria has been plagued by conflict and violence, many of the country’s artists have embraced exile and moved to safer shores. Nonetheless, this artistic diaspora remains focused on exploring their native country’s culture and history, examining the destruction caused by war. Whether referencing personal or collective memories, cultural and religious traditions or other psychological and personal experiences, the artists in this list are some of the foremost Syrian practitioners today.
Tammam Azzam (b. 1980, Damascus, Syria) is from the younger generation of Syrian artists and lives in exile in Dubai. He has had various exhibitions with Ayyam Gallery at its different locations, including London (2013), Al Quoz – Dubai (2012, 2009), DIFC Dubai (2011), Beirut and Damascus (2010).
Safwan Dahoul (b. 1961, Hama, Syria) is one of the many Syrian artists who left their country and relocated to Dubai. Dahoul attended the Suheil Al Ahdab Center of Plastic Arts and the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus and in 1987 he went to study Mons, Belgium, on a scholarship from the Ministry of Higher Education, where he completed his PhD at the Higher Institute of Plastic Arts in in 1997.
