Exhibit featuring Syrian refugee artists on display at Roane State’s Oak Ridge campus through Feb. 9

 

An exhibit of artwork by refugees from war-ravaged Syria will be on display at Roane State Community College’s Oak Ridge campus, 701 Briarcliff Avenue, through February 9.

Roane State’s International Education Department has coordinated with St. Louis Community College to bring the traveling exhibit to Oak Ridge, a press release said. The exhibit is located in the Coffey-McNally Building next to room C-120.

Scholar Rihab Sawah from St. Louis Community College organized the traveling exhibit. Sawah began presenting on topics related to Syria and the Middle East in her early 20s, when Amnesty International invited her to speak about her father, who was a political prisoner in her homeland, the press release said.

This art exhibit carries the experiences, memories, and an array of feelings of Syrian artists who reside in the Zaa’tari Refugee Camp in Jordan. These artists were painting on canvases from the tents they lived in, drawing on scrap paper and creating mixed media art from whatever they could get their hands on, the release said.

The result is a body of artwork celebrating the hope of a war-torn people who left their homes to create a better life for themselves and their families.

“Exposing their artwork to America can help us better understand what the people of Syria are experiencing as their country is torn apart by violence,” Sawah said.

This press release and photo were submitted by Owen Driskill.