Last Checkpoint In Syria, 2023

110 x 110 cm

Digital print of my legal documents of Leaving Syria on cotton, Acrylic and pencil.

This project aims to understand the methodologies used in conveying war trauma. One artist I closely collaborated with is Heba Al-Akkad, a renowned Syrian artist. She generously shared her techniques and methodologies, influencing my experiments during this period. In this project, I drew inspiration from a previous experiment involving my government documents. The artwork depicts an enlarged Syrian border receipt, presented on a canvas in the distinctive shade of dictator blue. This receipt is issued when one passes through the last border control of the country. Notably, it is a document not easily obtained by many Syrians due to the associated costs and the need to navigate safely through governmental checkpoints. For those who manage to acquire it, this document symbolizes freedom, representing the sole means to leave the country safely.

Through this project, my objective is to shed light on the violence inherent in documents, particularly the bureaucratic control exercised by the Assad regime over its people. I aim to emphasize and showcase a crucial and traumatic aspect of the Syrian regime, focusing on the impact of its bureaucratic practices.

A receipt of entering Lebanon from Syria