DIGITAL BROCHURE
Action For Sama’s ‘We Dared to Dream’ exhibition at P21 Gallery, December 2021.
15 December 2021 marks 5 years since we were forcibly displaced from Aleppo. 5 years since we were forced to flee our homes because we were given one choice: leave, or die.
As part of our commemoration of the anniversary of our displacement, we want to honour the friends we lost and the people whose lives continue to be uprooted and destroyed by the ongoing attacks of the Syrian Regime and its allies. We have gathered objects and personal effects that tell the stories of these human beings who experienced the devastation of the time and who were subjected to the horrors that took place in Aleppo exactly 5 years ago.
The items you see in this exhibition belong to us - Waad, Hamza, Afraa and Salem - as well as our friends with whom we shared our last days in Aleppo. Some of the objects belong to people who are no longer with us, whose lives were brutally taken by the indiscriminate violence of Syrian Regime and Russian forces.
Thank you for your being here and for listening to our stories.
“Action for Sama’s small yet immensely powerful exhibition revives memories of a past life in physical form. There’s something about seeing these objects - dusty, worn and broken - that really brings to life all the scenes of devastation in Aleppo that we’ve seen on our TV screens in the film For Sama and in news broadcasts about the Syrian conflict over the years . Each item is accompanied by an emotive caption telling the heartbreaking story of its owner that cannot help but leave you deeply moved. ”
EXHIBITION ITEMS
Click on the object to read the story behind it.
THE SCENT OF ALEPPO
Waad al-Kateab shares, “When we had to say goodbye to everything inside Aleppo, we thought about taking as much stuff as we can as a memory. But when we were wearing our clothes that day, we didn’t even think about those. We just needed to keep as warm as possible. We were so cold - it was -4 degrees.
But the moment we stepped outside Aleppo, these clothes became one of the most important things for us.
It is the clothes that we survived with. It is the clothes we brought out of Aleppo. They have a smell which reminds us of everything that happened. You can smell the smoke. There is a very special smell from Aleppo which I find hard to even describe. It is unique. The scent of these clothes may be horrible for so many people, but for me - this is the smell of home.
I tried to keep these belongings safe. For years, I would keep opening this bag of clothes and every time I opened it, it took me back and I remembered everything. I always have a very good feeling when I smell this.
We wanted to bring this to the exhibition and we hung the clothes in front of a display of pictures with us wearing them. And when we were putting the clothing on the rails, the smell meant everything to me.
Visually, with everything we had there at the exhibition, your brain still knows you are in London - your mind still holds you back from going there fully. But the smell of the clothes - the smell of Aleppo - for me, is something that has the power to crush my body and makes me feel like I have never left.”
LIVE ART
During the We Dared To Dream exhibition, Salem al Atrash - who is part of the For Sama family - took paint brush to canvas, working on a piece of art with the help of family and friends. In Aleppo, Salem used calligraphy and illustration on banners and painted graffiti on the walls as a way of using art as peaceful protest.
He shares, “I call this painting, ‘Nostalgia’. It represents our city of Aleppo - a place that is always in our minds and hearts. However we try to move on or to forget, we just can't.
The first thing that comes to my mind from this painting is the old streets and neighbourhoods of Aleppo which were full of intimacy, tenderness, and warmth. I think about the people who used to visit Aleppo and walk in its narrow streets and all of the citizens of these neighbourhoods who cared about each other so much.
The sentence we wrote at the bottom reads, ‘All the love roads will lead to Aleppo’. There is love for all its little details, and all the people that used to live there. We all hold such a strong passion to return to it and to see it again through revolutionary eyes - our city that represents hope and love, forever embedded in our hearts.”
FOR SAMA FILM
Through the duration of our exhibition, For Sama film was projected on the large screen - a visual timestamp from when the objects in the room were used or worn.
The soulful soundtrack of For Sama by Nainita Desai was playing on loop in the background, for visitors to enjoy as they weaved through the space.
