For two weeks only, works by one of Syria’s best-known artists, Sara Shamma, are on show in London. Organised by the curator Sacha Craddock, World Civil War Portraits at the StolenSpace Gallery in the Old Truman Brewery features new large-scale paintings by the Damascus-born artist (until 24 May). Shamma has been living in Beirut with her children since 2012 after a car bomb exploded in front of her flat in her hometown. Her paintings focus on the human figure, but her subjects are largely nameless and imagined. Shamma says: “I want to bring the 200,000 who were killed in Syria to London, to Europe, I want you to see them, look to their eyes and feel their loss, but I will not leave them dead, I want to bring them to life, I want them to tell their stories, to defend their differences, to convince everybody that they deserved to be alive. It is not just a Syrian civil war anymore—it is becoming a World Civil War.” The Art Newspaper spoke to the artist about life in Syria and how the war has affected the country’s art scene.
The Art Newspaper: What is the situation for Syrian artists?
Sara Shamma: A lot of Syrian artists are still living in Syria, but at the moment the art scene isn’t active so artists are trying to survive doing other things. The art scene in Syria is now dead, there is nothing happening at the moment. Art galleries and museums exist but most of them are closed right now, I guess they are continuing to pay their employees but nothing is happening. Many Syrian artists are also living outside the country. They moved to Lebanon, Egypt and a lot have moved to the Gulf countries, trying to survive. I don’t think this is a good situation for them. The war in Syria started in 2011, so lots of people have moved since then. Many artists were expecting the situation to be provisional but it wasn’t. Some artists moved out in 2012 others are moving now… it depends.
TAN: Do you make political works?
SS: No. Of course I am contaminated by the situation around me but I don’t take a side through art.
TAN: How has the infrastructure of the art world in Syria changed? Has it gone underground or is it out in the open?
SS: I think [museums and galleries] are not functioning anymore. You may hear about small exhibitions taking place but compared with what was happening in Syria before, this is nothing. Maybe 2% of the art scene is now functioning but all the rest is dead.
TAN: Are Syrian artists scared of making political works?
SS: There are many artists doing political art right now and a new wave of political artists has also emerged. Established artists have reacted in different ways, some are quiet and others are trying to be activists and political by reacting to the situation through their art. But I think that none of this really matters because what can they really change?
TAN: Does the Syrian government persecute artists?
SS: Artists have to be careful because in the end Syria is an Arab country. I have a lot of reservations about this regime and against the opposition as well. I’m not taking sides because I can’t take a side. I think that taking a side is in itself an act of war. If we stop taking sides maybe the war will end. Artists have to be careful if they are living in Syria because if they show that they are against the government we all know that they will be kicked out of the country. But I don’t think that art should make a political statement because I don’t think that it can change that much. I don’t believe that political artists can do anything. Political artists might take sides without knowing it and these sides that they take will become political propaganda. By doing so the artist looses his main role, because I think that the role of an artist—at least for me—(and that’s what I would expect from music as well) is to provoke, to move, to touch my inner subconscious, my inner soul by touching your senses and your feelings. Art has to remain personal. But when art becomes political or activist it looses the main meaning of art itself.
TAN: Which artists have inspired you?
SS: I love Lucian Freud and Frank Auerbach. Auerbach works with impasto, applying a lot of paint on the canvas. In his works the paint is like a sculpture on the canvas and his portraits are very expressive. The texture of the paint on the canvas is very important for me in all my works.
TAN: Do you see a solution to the situation in Syria?
SS: Not in the near future. Not in the time of my children. I don’t see anything positive for me in the near future. Maybe for some other party there is a positive aspect. But I hope to go back one day. My children would love to go back. But life has to go on. One finds a new place, gets used to it... that’s life.
• World Civil War Portraits, StolenSpace Gallery, London, until 24 May