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العربية
The sculptor and painter “Saleh Al-Hussein” the son of Deir Ezzor, left abroad carrying with him to the diaspora massages of sculptures which implied meanings and messages to the European society, and he was the best messenger of the Free Syrian people to the European people of the deep rooted civilization.
D24 network interviewed the artist Saleh Al-Hussein and he presented the following speech:
Al-Hussein said:
“I am Saleh Al-Hussein, born in Al-Quriyah city in Deir Ezzor, 1968, studied Arabic literature at Aleppo University and did not complete it, because I applied to the Academy of Fine Arts in 86/87 and although I passed the entrance examination, I refused to study.”
And continued:
“I have traveled to many Arab countries and worked in Arabic calligraphy, advertising, and painting, at first I didn’t have many experiences with sculpture although I was really good at it, but I mastered it in Lebanon where I began my career in sculpture and I was carving rocks and marbles,”
Al-Hussein added:
“I left Al-Quriyah city in the eighth month of 2014 for Turkey, I stayed in Turkey for several months and then left for Greece and I stayed for seven months because I couldn’t continue my journey, then I arrived in Germany in the seventh month of 2015.
After my family and I arrived in Germany I decided to continue my work in sculpture, and because it was hard to get the place and the stones needed for carving, I changed to wood carving, so I went to the forest, brought logs, and started carving in the cellar of the house with simple tools and kitchen knives and I finished several works including the child “Alan” and the German Adviser “Angela Merkel” and I made an exhibition in one of the city market streets, which caught the press attention in the province where I live, so the province newspaper wrote a detailed article about me and put my address in the article, so the Germans began fetching me logs and some tools, and I was able to held several individual exhibitions in many cities and participated in joint events and exhibitions.
Mr. Saleh added:
“Most of my works – except gifts for friends – reflects the Syrian reality, the suffering of our people in the camps, the pains and tragedies that have afflicted the revolutionary Syrian people demanding their freedom, and in fact I could not get away from these themes because their impact went to my heart especially as our people, neighbours, and friends are still displaced in camps in the cold and destitution, and as I couldn’t help them with money, I placed on my shoulders the responsibility of conving their sufferings in every forum to the western societies through what these societies appreciate and love which is art.
One of the messages that I wanted to convey through my work is that the Syrian society, with all its groups, is a harmonious society since the beginning of time, just like the colors of a painting which complement each other, and I was able to do that by the carving of the child (Alan, the Kurdish child) and (Mai Skaf, the Christian actor).
And I wanted to convey a massage to the western societies that we are civilized people and we can be creative, and that if we hadn’t been excluded and marginalized, we wouldn’t have reached this situation.
And here we are, when we recieved attention, we showed our touches and creativity.
The artist Saleh Al-Hussein concluded his speech by saying:
“When I first displayed my work in the street and saw the Germans favouring them, I felt safe for the first time, I felt that I was in the right place, I found the ones who value the art and appreciate every touch and respect the one who embodies this art, and that is what I and every talented and creative people missed in the Arab world.
For me Syria is my mother and Deir Ezzor is her lap and warm bosom with everything in it, all of its features, and its suspension bridge which is not just suspended on the columns above the river but also on our heart, I made two sculptures of it and one of the archeological site “Ein Ali” in the badiyah of Al-Quriyah.
In the end, I hope that our displaced people return home back to their houses, and I hope that the Syrians follow the example of the Germans and the Japanese who had their countries wiped out in World War II and then rose again to be at the forefront in all fields after few years of their tragedies.
