Women We Have Not Lost Yet
Issa Touma
€25.00
On April 26th 2015, when radical Islamist opposition forces announced the ‘Great Attack’ on Aleppo, young women of various ethnicities and religious backgrounds sought refuge in Le Pont gallery.
They were mostly former participants of Art Camping, a collaborative art project initiated by Le Pont in response to the outbreak of the Syrian conflict in 2012.
Issa Touma, a photographer and director of the gallery, believes that art is essential for surviving the horrors of war and preserving the principles of an inclusive society that are threatened by political and religious fanaticism. This book documents the photo sessions he held at Le Pont during the week of the ‘Great Attack’. It is a cry for freedom from the women that Syrian society has not lost yet – to death, exile or oppression.
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Issa Touma is a photographer and curator based in Aleppo (Syria). His photographic work can be found in international collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Finding himself isolated from the international art community in his own country, Touma established the Black and White Gallery, the first photography gallery in the Middle East, in 1992. After its closure in 1996, Touma founded Le Pont, an independent art organisation and gallery that promotes freedom of expression and stimulates the local art scene through international events.
In 1997, he started the International Photography Festival Aleppo, which despite the horrors and uncertainties of the conflict, continues to take place every year. In 2012, shortly after the war broke out, he initiated Art Camping. 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. -
Editor(s):Bas VroegePhotography:Issa ToumaDesign:Kummer & Herrman
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Edition:1stPublisher(s):Paradox, André Frère Éditions
