Daraa drought drowned by a bloody bath
On January 26, 2011, Hasan Ali Akleh poured gasoline on himself and set himself on fire igniting the beginning of the Syrian protests against Bashar Assad's autocratic Ba'ath dictatorship requesting him to step down from power. By February, there was organized a Day of Rage to protest the current regime, which the police dispersed. In March, young boys were arrested for graffiti asking to overthrow the regime, which led to multiple hunger strikes around the country. By March large scale protested had manifested around the country asking for political prisoners to be freed. The city of Daraa became the focal point of the protests The "president" responded by using tear gas, bullets on protesters and rounding up people into detention torture centers. Even journalists became targets and were arrested and tortured if not outright shot. In April, the military was dispensed to Daraa to fire on protesters and search house to house for protesters. By July, a group of former officers formed the Free Syrian Army to take up arms against the Baath dictator. Currently, the war is ongoing with false peaces inbetween. Up to 40,000 people have already died in the fighting. Between 300,000 and 500,000 people have emigrated from Syria to escape the violence.
Of note, Bashar's father killed 20,000 civilians to remain in power in the 1981 under a scorched earth policy. He came to power similarly to Saddam Hussein as a coup d'etat as Defense Minister. He later closed ranks. Only Assads have been in power since 1970. There were a series of baath coups starting in 1950s to take power.
In the painting, all major powers are represented by news articles from the US, France, China, Arabic countries, Iran, Russia, Israel, Turkey, and Kurdish regions. The colors of the Syria flag are represented by the green background and red fist of revolution. The arabic lettering is in gold and black the final two colors of the new and old flag of 1932, which the rebels are using. Various symbols of the great empires which have controlled Syrian territory over the millenia are present: Assyrian coins, Roman coins, Islamic Calliphate coins, Persian flag and Ottoman symbols. Additionally, current currency from the major backers of each side are present: Iran, US, UK, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Russia. Other symbols are relgious such as major Christian saint. Paul who prophetized in Syria.
The arabic text is from a famous poet: Adonis translated by Shawkat Toorwa. Adonis had been imprisoned in the 1950s for political envolvement in the pan-Arabic Syrian Socialist Party. He moved on to Lebanon and later France. He has written over 20 books of poetry and is renowned as the greatest living poet of Arabic. There is a saying of arabic poetry of before Adonis and after Adonis. He broke from the fossilized rules of arabic prose commonly established and revitalized the entire poetry field in Arabic. The poem is called "This is my name". The poem is only a small section of an epic 50 page poem written about the loss during the Arab-Israeli war of 1967:
...
and I shall call this city a cadaver
and I shall call Syria's trees mournful birds
a flower or a song perhaps
will be born of the naming
and I shall call the desert moon a palm tree
perhaps the earth shall awaken and become
a child again or the dream of a child
There is nothing left to sing my melodies:
the dissenters shall come and
the light shall come at its appointed hour...
Only madness remains
Interview on painting: shawnshawn.co/Site/Home/Entries/2012/12/7_Daraa_Drought_D...
Painting Size: 48 x 48 inches
Related Sites:
www.guardian.co.uk/world/syria
www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/syria/
www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_civil_war
Exhibition:
4th Street Fine Art, Berkeley - May-Jun 2013
Interview: shawnshawnartist.wordpress.com/2012/12/07/daraa-drought-d...
Original: SOLD
Website: www.shawnshawn.co
Paintings for sale: www.etsy.com/shop/ShawNshawNart
Newsletter: shawnshawn.co/Site/Contact.html
Art of the Real
Daraa drought drowned by a bloody bath
On January 26, 2011, Hasan Ali Akleh poured gasoline on himself and set himself on fire igniting the beginning of the Syrian protests against Bashar Assad's autocratic Ba'ath dictatorship requesting him to step down from power. By February, there was organized a Day of Rage to protest the current regime, which the police dispersed. In March, young boys were arrested for graffiti asking to overthrow the regime, which led to multiple hunger strikes around the country. By March large scale protested had manifested around the country asking for political prisoners to be freed. The city of Daraa became the focal point of the protests The "president" responded by using tear gas, bullets on protesters and rounding up people into detention torture centers. Even journalists became targets and were arrested and tortured if not outright shot. In April, the military was dispensed to Daraa to fire on protesters and search house to house for protesters. By July, a group of former officers formed the Free Syrian Army to take up arms against the Baath dictator. Currently, the war is ongoing with false peaces inbetween. Up to 40,000 people have already died in the fighting. Between 300,000 and 500,000 people have emigrated from Syria to escape the violence.
Of note, Bashar's father killed 20,000 civilians to remain in power in the 1981 under a scorched earth policy. He came to power similarly to Saddam Hussein as a coup d'etat as Defense Minister. He later closed ranks. Only Assads have been in power since 1970. There were a series of baath coups starting in 1950s to take power.
In the painting, all major powers are represented by news articles from the US, France, China, Arabic countries, Iran, Russia, Israel, Turkey, and Kurdish regions. The colors of the Syria flag are represented by the green background and red fist of revolution. The arabic lettering is in gold and black the final two colors of the new and old flag of 1932, which the rebels are using. Various symbols of the great empires which have controlled Syrian territory over the millenia are present: Assyrian coins, Roman coins, Islamic Calliphate coins, Persian flag and Ottoman symbols. Additionally, current currency from the major backers of each side are present: Iran, US, UK, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Russia. Other symbols are relgious such as major Christian saint. Paul who prophetized in Syria.
The arabic text is from a famous poet: Adonis translated by Shawkat Toorwa. Adonis had been imprisoned in the 1950s for political envolvement in the pan-Arabic Syrian Socialist Party. He moved on to Lebanon and later France. He has written over 20 books of poetry and is renowned as the greatest living poet of Arabic. There is a saying of arabic poetry of before Adonis and after Adonis. He broke from the fossilized rules of arabic prose commonly established and revitalized the entire poetry field in Arabic. The poem is called "This is my name". The poem is only a small section of an epic 50 page poem written about the loss during the Arab-Israeli war of 1967:
...
and I shall call this city a cadaver
and I shall call Syria's trees mournful birds
a flower or a song perhaps
will be born of the naming
and I shall call the desert moon a palm tree
perhaps the earth shall awaken and become
a child again or the dream of a child
There is nothing left to sing my melodies:
the dissenters shall come and
the light shall come at its appointed hour...
Only madness remains
Interview on painting: shawnshawn.co/Site/Home/Entries/2012/12/7_Daraa_Drought_D...
Painting Size: 48 x 48 inches
Related Sites:
www.guardian.co.uk/world/syria
www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/syria/
www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_civil_war
Exhibition:
4th Street Fine Art, Berkeley - May-Jun 2013
Interview: shawnshawnartist.wordpress.com/2012/12/07/daraa-drought-d...
Original: SOLD
Website: www.shawnshawn.co
Paintings for sale: www.etsy.com/shop/ShawNshawNart
Newsletter: shawnshawn.co/Site/Contact.html
Art of the Real