Victor Sloan is an invited artist at the
Aleppo International Photography Festival
Aleppo International Photography Festival, Syria
15 – 30 September 2012
© Victor Sloan
Plans for the 2012 Festival were ambitious,
with a new venue in a former power station and 48 local and international
artists to present some 870 works. When they began work a year ago, no one
imagined that by September Syria would be in the grips of civil war, and Aleppo
at the heart of the conflict.
With the post office closed, and mobile
telephony and internet links cut for long periods, it became nigh-on impossible
to proceed. On the ground, printing and framing services had all-but closed
down. No one responded from the power station, their planned primary venue for
2012. These specific challenges were exacerbated by a larger demographic
problem, as Syrians fled the countryside to take shelter in the increasingly
crowded city centre.
Who, facing such calamitous events, would
not throw in the towel and abandon the festival? Not Issa Touma and his
colleagues. They persevered, and Issa’s assistant Victoria maintained contact
with the artists from her base in Armenia, forwarding the information to Aleppo
whenever temporary communication could be re-established.
Every year without fail the festival had
opened on 15 September. And on 15 September 2012, a ‘symbolic opening’ was
staged at Le Pont Gallery where 40 images from the festival were presented to
stand – for now – for the festival as a whole. There are still hopes that the
festival will be seen in full. If not in the buildings of Aleppo then
online, and the organisers are working now to present the festival at their
website and via FaceBook.
Festival Director Issa Touma explains:
“Today at the festival opening, people were
relaxed and happy… Today the festival gives a message to everyone, which is:
whatever happened in Syria, the photo festival will not stop. Every 15
September is our date to bring together images made by international and Arab
artists to meet the Syrian audience.
The festival gives a message about the
survival of civil society.
While many have left the country, we chose
to stay. In this time of bloody news and death, we still believed in life and
peace and love … Every day when we walk out of our hidden corner to see
cultural activity, it’s a new victory for life, for art and for culture. It’s
the best proof that war cannot win.”
Aleppo is one of the oldest continuously
inhabited cities in the world. It has been a cultural centre for the past eight
thousand years. The International Photography Festival of Aleppo and Art
Camping - a peaceful movement running
workshops for young refugees displaced by the Civil War co – founded by Issa
Touma - are currently the only international artistic meetings places operating
in Syria.
A. Okhi Irawan, Abby Robinson, Alessia Scena, Alex Bocchetto & Valentina Abenavoli, Alexandra Demenkova, Alina Kisina, Allan Fernandes, Amanda Rivkin, Amit Chakravarty, Anil Eraslan, Anna Aseeva, Bent Hedeby Sørensen, Carlo Bevilacqua, Cath. An, Corinne Silva, Darek Fortas, Diego López Calvín, Eleanor Benette, Eric Bouttier, Erin Muvehil, Fernando di Sisto, Fie Tanderup, Giacomo Brunelli, Ishola akpo, Jacqueline van der Venne, James Whitlow Delano, Jean-François Pirson, Jean-Marc Caracci, Katharina Mouratidi, Khaled Hasan, Liu Jinxun, Luca Sidro, Marcin Andrzejewski, Mariam Amurvelashvili, Marwen Trabelsi, Mohamad Manjoneh, Monica Anselment, Nouh Hammami, Nathalie Kardjian, Nathalie Daoustvia Karen Irvine, Nseabasi Akpan, Ploutarcos Haloftis, Roger Bruce, Saikat Mojumder, Sean McAllister and Victor Sloan.
