Syria Speaks Tour

Join Syrian artists and writers for a unique evening of readings and discussion of cultural resistance in the country. The line-up will include award-winning Damascus-based novelist Khaled Khalifa, cinematographer and video artist Khalil Younes, writer and filmakmer Zaher Omareen, and authors Malu Halasa and Robin Yassin-Kassab along with live Syrian and Palestinian music from the Raast Collective.

This event will mark the publication of Syria Speaks, a unique anthology of uprising literature, art and culture.

Since the uprising began in March 2011, Syrian writers and artists have been creating work like never before, becoming their own publishers on the internet and forming anonymous artists’ collectives. Culture has become a critical line of defence against tyranny. Syria Speaks is a celebration of a people determined to reclaim their dignity, freedom and self-expression. It showcases the work of over fifty artists and writers who are challenging the culture of violence in Syria. Their literature, poems and songs, cartoons, political posters and photographs document and interpret the momentous changes that have shifted the frame of reality so drastically in Syria. Moving and inspiring, Syria Speaks is testament to the courage, creativity and imagination of the Syrian people. This event will be a window onto these creative endeavours during this time of turmoil.