Photos: In Syria’s Yarmuk, painters translate suffering into art

Updated On Aug 24, 2018 11:52 am IST

In Syria's capital Damascus lies theformer Palestinian camp of Yarmuk which over the decades was consumed by the expanding city’s boundaries. Around 140,000 residents fled clashes between the regime and opposing rebels in 2012, leaving the rest to face severe food shortages under government encirclement and recapture. Today its once buzzing streets lie almost abandoned. Reaching out to these ruined places, some young artists intending to translate suffering onto their canvases, gathered a recent afternoon hoping to bring back life to a dark places ravaged by years of bombardment and siege.

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Equipped with paint brushes and pencils, around 12 young artists were seen with their easels in the once-crowded camp turned Damascus suburb, now largely abandoned after seven years of civil war. They set out to translate suffering into art in a neighbourhood ravaged by years of bombardment and siege. (Maher Al Mounes / AFP)

Updated on Aug 24, 2018 11:52 am IST

Equipped with paint brushes and pencils, around 12 young artists were seen with their easels in the once-crowded camp turned Damascus suburb, now largely abandoned after seven years of civil war. They set out to translate suffering into art in a neighbourhood ravaged by years of bombardment and siege. (Maher Al Mounes / AFP)

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Artists paint in the Yarmuk refugee camp on the southern outskirts of Damascus. Before the war, Yarmuk was home to around 160,000, the United Nations says. Set up in 1957 to house Palestinian refugees, over the decades it became a crowded district that was eventually swallowed up by Damascus. Today, it lies almost deserted. (Maher Al Mounes / AFP)

Updated on Aug 24, 2018 11:52 am IST

Artists paint in the Yarmuk refugee camp on the southern outskirts of Damascus. Before the war, Yarmuk was home to around 160,000, the United Nations says. Set up in 1957 to house Palestinian refugees, over the decades it became a crowded district that was eventually swallowed up by Damascus. Today, it lies almost deserted. (Maher Al Mounes / AFP)

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Painter Hinaya Kebabi depicted a young boy with a missing eye, holding up a drawing of another eye to conceal his wound, the 22-year-old explained. “One day, I hope people will come back here to colour, not rubble,” she said. (Maher Al Mounes / AFP)

Updated on Aug 24, 2018 11:52 am IST

Painter Hinaya Kebabi depicted a young boy with a missing eye, holding up a drawing of another eye to conceal his wound, the 22-year-old explained. “One day, I hope people will come back here to colour, not rubble,” she said. (Maher Al Mounes / AFP)

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Not far from his destroyed home the camp, a 21-year-old Abdallah al-Harith dabbed bright red paint onto a canvas standing amid the grey ruins. “We’re bringing back life to a dark place,” said Harith, who fled Yarmuk several years ago, but returned after the regime ousted Islamic State group jihadists in May. (Maher Al Mounes / AFP)

Updated on Aug 24, 2018 11:52 am IST

Not far from his destroyed home the camp, a 21-year-old Abdallah al-Harith dabbed bright red paint onto a canvas standing amid the grey ruins. “We’re bringing back life to a dark place,” said Harith, who fled Yarmuk several years ago, but returned after the regime ousted Islamic State group jihadists in May. (Maher Al Mounes / AFP)

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One painting depicted streams of red running down a dark building and in another; an emaciated man was curled up naked in the foetal position. Visiting the camp last month, UNRWA commissioner-general Pierre Krahenbuhl said he had rarely seen such damage. “The scale of the destruction in Yarmuk compares to very little else that I have seen in many years of humanitarian work in conflict zones,” he said. (Maher Al Mounes / AFP)

Updated on Aug 24, 2018 11:52 am IST

One painting depicted streams of red running down a dark building and in another; an emaciated man was curled up naked in the foetal position. Visiting the camp last month, UNRWA commissioner-general Pierre Krahenbuhl said he had rarely seen such damage. “The scale of the destruction in Yarmuk compares to very little else that I have seen in many years of humanitarian work in conflict zones,” he said. (Maher Al Mounes / AFP)

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Harith and his peers stood sweeping paint across their canvases while the gentle melody of an oud -- a Middle Eastern lute -- was broadcast across the smashed concrete. He also painted an image of a small boy emerging from the ground, holding a bright red apple. “It’s supposed to represent new life,” Harith said. (Maher Al Mounes / AFP)

Updated on Aug 24, 2018 11:52 am IST

Harith and his peers stood sweeping paint across their canvases while the gentle melody of an oud -- a Middle Eastern lute -- was broadcast across the smashed concrete. He also painted an image of a small boy emerging from the ground, holding a bright red apple. “It’s supposed to represent new life,” Harith said. (Maher Al Mounes / AFP)

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After the images were shared online, several internet users slammed the project as provocative. But Mohammed Jalbout, one of the organisers who hails from the Palestinian camp, defended the project.”We all have homes here. I haven’t been back to mine or been able to inspect it,” he said. But, “at least through art, we’re trying to breathe a little life back into this place.” (Maher Al Mounes / AFP)

Updated on Aug 24, 2018 11:52 am IST

After the images were shared online, several internet users slammed the project as provocative. But Mohammed Jalbout, one of the organisers who hails from the Palestinian camp, defended the project.”We all have homes here. I haven’t been back to mine or been able to inspect it,” he said. But, “at least through art, we’re trying to breathe a little life back into this place.” (Maher Al Mounes / AFP)

News / Photos / News / Photos: In Syria’s Yarmuk, painters translate suffering into art

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