‘World Civil War Portraits’ BY Sara Shamma

StolenSpace is proud to present ‘World Civil War Portraits’ a major solo exhibition of new paintings by internationally acclaimed Sara Shamma, one of Syria’s best known artists.

A powerful and moving product of the terrible civil war in Syria, ‘World Civil War Portraits’ is informed by Shamma’s personal experience of the conflict. Forced to flee Syria in 2012 after a car bomb exploded outside her flat. Shamma now lives in the Lebanon with her young family whilst her husband remains working in Damascus.

Shamma, as one of the most perceptive artists of the region, is in a unique position to allude not only to the tragedy of Syria but to the escalating strife in the Middle East and throughout the world. She continues to paint in exile with a single voice which speaks directly of her own experience and creates a connection with the viewer which is hard to ignore.

“I want to bring the 200 thousands who were killed in Syria to London, to Europe, I want you to see them, look to their eyes and feel their loss, but I will not leave them dead, I want to bring them to life, I want them to tell their stories, to defend their differences, to convince everybody that they deserved to be alive. It is not just a Syrian civil war anymore - it is becoming a World Civil War.” - Sara Shamma

About The Artist:

Syrian born from a Christian background and before the civil war one of the best-known and most celebrated artists working in Syria, Shamma has numerous exhibitions and commissions to her name. International awards include prizes for the BP Portrait Award 2004, the Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize South Australia 2008 and Florence Biennale 2013. Shamma was nominated Celebrity Partner for the United Nations World Food Programme in 2010. Recent exhibitions include ‘Q’ at the Royal College of Art in London in 2013 and ‘Diaspora’ at Art Sawa gallery in Dubai U.A.E in 2014.