Symposium All Good Things Must Begin – Roots and Routes

Salwa Gatherings: All Good Things Must Begin – Roots and Routes © Salwa Foundation

vr 11–03–2022 t/m
zo 13–03–2022

Goethe-Institut Amsterdam

Salwa Gatherings

The first Salwa Gathering centers themes such as belonging, identity, and diasporic practices of remembrance, and will hold space for conversations across time. What can we learn from sharing our memories and how can we honor those that have weaved pathways before us? What can we learn from tracing back our roots and routes that shape our present-day realities?
The artists that will join this first gathering create work around themes such as relationality, intergenerational wisdom, heritage, and memories.
As this gathering will be the kick-off of the three Salwa Gatherings, we want to facilitate (intimate) conversations that center solidarity and support within the arts and cultural scene.

Confirmed artists are: Sulafa Hijazi, Thana Faroq, Emirhakin, Anto Lopez, Senakirfa Abraham, Lina Issa, and Khaled Barakeh.

There will be an artist talk by Khaled Barakeh in conversation with Riad Salameh, moderated by Jamil Fiorino-Habib.
There will be DJ sets by Lazer Gazer and Siga.
Food and drinks will be provided.

The Goethe-Institut Niederlande particularly supports the following two participants:
  • Sulafa Hijazi © private Born in Damascus, Syria, Sulafa Hijazi is a director, visual and multimedia artist based in Berlin, Germany. She studied at the Higher Institute of the Dramatic Arts in Syria where she majored in dramatic studies, and at the Städelschule Fine Art Academy in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
    Hijazi began her career as a writer and director of animation and other multimedia production, with a particular focus on children education and social development. Her animation and multimedia productions are very popular among Arab children and youth. They have been shown on TV channels, online platforms and featured in national and international festivals, receiving several awards. At the beginning of 2010 she established Bluedar, a digital art production house, started between Damascus and Beirut and located now in Berlin. Due to the diminishing freedom of expression in Syria, Hijazi flew to Frankfurt in 2013 where she studied contemporary art and started to experiment with a variety of conceptual art and multimedia forms Her artworks have been exhibited in several galleries in Europe and featured in online platforms, newspapers, and books. Her artworks are now part of some art collections such as the British Museum in London, Barjeell Art Foundation in Sharjah, and International Media Support (IMS) in Copenhagen
     
  • Khaled Barakeh Courtesy of Khaled Barakeh Khaled Barakeh is a Berlin-based conceptual artist and cultural activist. Driven by his observations of longstanding social injustice, Barakeh approaches art as a tool for societal change and as a vehicle to undermine stagnant power structures.
    Barakeh graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus, Syria in 2005, and completed a MFA at Funen Art Academy in Odense, Denmark (2010) and a Meisterschüler study at the Städelschule Art Academy in Frankfurt, Germany (2013). In 2017, he developed Coculture, a not-for-profit organisation that manages initiatives that leverage artistic thinking to directly address issues of contemporary mass migration. Among these projects is the Syria Cultural Index and the Syrian Biennale.
    Alongside his studio activity, since 2018, Barakeh has facilitated an ongoing series of workshops with the Berlin Career College at the Universität der Künste Berlin. Aimed at supporting artists in exile, these workshops provide professional practice skills critical to success in the Berlin scene.
    In 2020, Barakeh unveiled his project Mute, a collection of about 50 inanimate figures. Dressed in the donated personal clothing of artists and activists from across the Syrian diaspora, this silent demonstration (The Muted Demonstration) stood in observance of the trial proceedings (first trial against suspected members of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's security services for crimes against humanity) in front of the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany on the 1st of July, 2020.
    Barakeh has exhibited at Hamburger Kunsthalle, the 11th Shanghai Biennale, the Frankfurter Kunstverein, and the Busan Biennale, among many others.

Salwa Foundation in co-operation with Mondriaan Fund, Finnish Institute Benelux and Goethe-Institut Niederlande.

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