'Open museum' strives to bring art to the people
Euphrates
Daily Star staff
DAMASCUS: An initiative by a local artist has carved out room for 250 print
reproductions of modern Syrian paintings among the waves of advertisements
filling the streets of Damascus in a double-barreled attempt to bring art to
the
public and jolt the advertising sector out of traditional molds.
The two-week project that ends Friday, "Art for the People 99," features the
works of some 50 artists whose paintings fill a portion of the capital's
advertising space at bus stops or mini-billboard stands belonging to the
Mustaqbal company.
The project, taking place in coordination with Gallery Attassi and under the
Culture Ministry's patronage, is the brainchild of Saad Maksood, a 33-year
old
painter who has combined his background in art and advertising to "make the
city
an open museum," as al-Thawra's Diana Jabbour put it last week.
With a fine arts academic background, Maksoud has worked in advertising for
the
last eight years while participating in individual and group art
exhibitions.
Merging art and advertising might rub some the wrong way, but Maksoud hinted
that the combination was a sure way to connect with the public.
"In Syria, large-scale advertising is relatively new and has become an
active
sector only in this decade. The quality of advertisements is still pretty
disappointing but, ironically, the network of stands, or the big billboards
around Damascus, mean that we have the most modern means of presenting ads,"
Maksood said.
"Meanwhile, art isn't reaching the people. So why not use the technology of
the
advertising sector to present something more refined?" he asked.
Maksood convinced 15 firms to rent the advertising space, with five of
them
food industry companies Fiorella and Katakit, Manar Printing Services and
local
agents for Aiwa and Kenwood providing most of the sponsorship while others
put
up smaller amounts.
Drawing on Gallery Attassi's slides archives, Maksood printed the posters
with
the name of the sponsor at the bottom and the "Art for the People 99" logo
at
the top.
"It took a lot of work to convince firms to try something different. It's a
new
style of advertising here, to let companies tie consumers to the company,
and
not just the product," he said.
The project, Maksood added, also marks nearly a century of modern Syrian
art,
which began when the late 19th century Arab renaissance's artistic pioneers
began their studies, mainly in Europe.
The Syrian public's relation with its modern art is tenuous, he said,
despite
the teaching of fine arts and criticism in the state universities.
"There are only half a dozen galleries, while the National Museum's modern
art
wing has an unchanging display of the pioneers' work," he said. "The press
might
talk about art, but for the most part, the subject is for the elite."
Maksood, who has three of his own paintings on display, said that he was
determined to continue with the project in different forms. But, he added, a
bid
to include it in Beirut's Cultural Capital celebration did not bring the
hoped-for results.
"Eight months ago, I thought that it would be perfect for Beirut, being this
year's cultural capital of the Arab world," he said. "I had in mind
something
that would feature Arab painters, as well as excerpts of texts.
"A Lebanese colleague and I presented the project to the Ministry of
Culture,
but we have yet to hear anything in the way of a response."
Ahmad Moualla, who has four of his works in the exhibition, said that the
project "gives people who don't know much about art a great opportunity to
see
the works, while those familiar with painting can see familiar works as they
go
around the city."
"It's something very positive, and in the end someone took the initiative to
put
advertising space to good use," he said.