Losing the freedom of choice

“Young women of multiple ethnicities and religious backgrounds sought refuge in Le Pont gallery founded by photographer and filmmaker Issa Touma, during the 2015 ‘Great Attack’ by radical Islamicists on Aleppo. Women We have not Lost Yet documents the photo sessions Touma held that week with these participants of his Art Camping project. Their cry for freedom, equality and for all religions, genders and ethnicities to co-exist peacefully is under extreme threat again today under al-Sharaa’s rule.“

Jury Statement

Between 2021 and 2024, the Assad regime’s grip on Syria weakened. The regime suffered from numerous internal conflicts between the first lady and her supporting businessmen over wealth distribution, leading to internal chaos and an unprecedented proliferation of bribery. The intelligence services’ ability to monitor the population weakened, leading to unprecedented chaos.
However, this chaos and weak oversight led to social disorganization, weakening the authority of society under the pressure of difficult social circumstances.

The project highlights the impact of war on young people, especially girls who grew up in extremely difficult circumstances and have never sought asylum abroad. This generation has witnessed 14 years of war, the COVID-19 pandemic, a devastating earthquake, and now an Islamic Republic that is striving to curb and control personal freedoms in every possible way.
For them, controlling women is priority is like controlling society as a whole.
Audiences will see stories of girls talking about their relationships, their dreams, and their aspirations to live like Westerners on social media. They often imitate them. There are also sad stories of disappointment and the oppression of parents and society. In their backgrounds, you will see a destroyed part of the city and areas that survived the destruction of war.
Girls from diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds represent the mosaic of Syrian society, many of whom are on the verge of extinction.

https://festival-aleppo.org

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Credits

Thanks to all the women for their courage to share their stories and thanks also to the Art Camping members for all the work and time they gave.

This event in the form of workshops counters violence with artistic interventions. Its aim is to bring young people from various religious and ethnic backgrounds together, encouraging them to express themselves through culture.

The presentation of the work is funded by State of the ART(ist), a collaboration between the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ars Electronica.