“Everyone fights for peace in his own way”: how do Syrians do art during war

The heroes of the new RTD film “Syrian Tango” - artists, musicians, dancers - are engaged in art, because they cannot live without it. For them, creativity is not a way to earn money, but the need to create something beautiful against the walls of broken shells. These people do not get tired of reminding others: it is worth remembering about culture, no matter how important the news from the front may be.

In the filming of the picture was attended by the owners of the antique salon, the couple, who before the war were engaged in selling art objects. With the onset of hostilities, there was almost no customer left with her husband and wife. For a short time, the couple left for Lebanon, but soon returned.

“The house, on the first floor of which our shop is located, served as a home for several generations of our family, this cannot be denied,” they explain.

Owners of the salon are hoping for the best: let hundreds of Syrian art workers move to the EU countries, but now there are more opportunities for bringing up a new generation.

This generation does not consist of graduates of elite colleges and universities. For example, one of the participants of the group of artists and sculptors "Aram" was preparing to become a seaman and did not learn much about the sea captain. After six months of illegal residence in Italy, he returned to Syria to get a legal visa, and then he was called up from the reserve to the army.

A few years of war, in the failed captain, discovered an amazing talent for sculpture - while resting from battles and skirmishes in underground tunnels he began carving bas-reliefs on the walls. The artist posted photos of his work on social networks, after which users from all over the world and even Syrian President Bashar Asad personally noticed them. The president awarded the young artist and ordered the ministry of culture to give him and his art group “any possible assistance”. Now the “Aram” group, as the author says, is working on a monument to the Syrian humanist soldier.

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“Humanism, striving for beauty is what allowed us to defeat our enemies,” the artist believes.

Art is created not only with the help of stones or canvases - you can create it with your own body. So do two more heroes of the "Syrian Tango": they dance right on the streets, squares, fountains, in front of shops.

A female dancer tells us that not everyone likes their behavior: to some, the dance seems provocative. In addition, passersby sometimes reproach her partner, asking why he is not at the front.

“But I fight, I fight every day, they just don't shoot at this front, but heal human souls,” the young dancer is convinced.

Another hero of the tape is a music master, a music teacher. The war split his family: the spouse could not remain in the country covered by the war, but he himself refused to leave.

“Almost all of our friends either died at the front, or were abducted by militants who demanded a large ransom. There are no wounded in this war, ”says the teacher.

He makes musical instruments from what he finds on the street.

“I tried to buy something via the Internet, but when sellers find out where we are from, they refuse to deal with us. I myself will not go anywhere, although I was called for a good salary. I think we now need our country very much, ”the teacher believes.

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Fortunately, among potential buyers are those for whom the sound is more important than appearance.

One of his associates is a master, trumpeter and conductor of a jazz orchestra named Dulyama - the only one of all film characters who traveled to Europe with the hope of finding a job there on the profile. However, Dulyama soon returned to his wife and daughter — he could not work far from his homeland and loved ones.

Dulama’s daughter, still a child, survived many shelling. The girl tells the film crew how her parents taught her how to cope with fear: you need to dance.

“So basically, I don’t remember the explosions, but the way I danced,” the girl laughs.

The orchestra conducted by Dulama plays Smells like teen spirit on classical and folk instruments, people shoot a performance, almost everyone dances. For them, art is a way to experience the horror of war and return to a peaceful life, which everyone has long dreamed of.

Watch the film “Syrian Tango” on RTD.