BEIRUT // A woman curls up in grief in a darkened room — an artist’s image as powerful as any of the thousands of photos and videos from Syria’s civil war flashing across the world’s computer and television screens.
The sketch is the work of 63-year-old painter and illustrator Youssef Abdelke, who stayed on in his Damascus studio as scores of his contemporaries left to escape a conflict approaching its fourth year.
While activists and state journalists are out on the front line recording every shell blast and clash, silver-haired Abdelke has found his own more personal way of reporting on the hardships of fellow Syrians, using charcoal and paper.
“I think all the works in one way or another try to express the concerns and emotions of the ordinary Syrian citizen amid this huge river of blood,” he said at a gallery in Beirut where dozens of his works were on display.
Many of them focus on small, intimate moments, rather than trying to make sweeping statements about a civil war that has killed 130,000 people, driven millions from their homes and devastated whole districts of Syrian cities.
The grieving woman bends over a portrait of her dead son.
A teapot rests on a chessboard, both common objects in many Syrian households. Two tea glasses nearby are splattered with red paint, as if they are bleeding from gunshot wounds.
“We need years and years of contemplation and work to arrive at the moment where one can touch the huge amount of tragedies. The killing and destruction is greater than one can easily absorb,” said Abdelke, a prominent name on the Syrian art scene.
“Right now we’re in the heart of the storm, so it’s very hard for one to see the true cultural effects in creative, artistic production.”
Abdelke has not shied away from taking on the authorities in the past.
This month’s exhibition is his first in Lebanon since he was jailed in Syria for a month last summer after signing a declaration demanding the departure of President Bashar Al Assad.
He was also held as a political prisoner from 1978 to 1980 under the three-decade rule of Mr Al Assad’s father Hafez Al Assad, and only returned to Damascus in 2005 from exile in France.
But many of the new works are abstract rather than overtly political.
A nail drives through a human heart. A knife cuts through a loose bouquet of flowers.
“The whole situation is an open-ended crisis,” said Abdelke. “It affects all civilians, even those who consider themselves outside of the conflict.”
Other Syrian artists have set up shop in Lebanon and Arabian Gulf states, securing shows in boutique galleries in London, Paris and New York and fuelling growing international interest in the country’s contemporary art.
Abdelke has also been touring the Middle East with his work. But he always returns, doggedly, to his base in Damascus.
Inside Syria, while art schools are still functioning and a few dozen artists keep up residences, Abdelke says exhibitions have become nearly impossible.
Cultural events like gallery openings and lectures are disappearing as routine violence overtakes much of the country, even the heart of the once safe capital.
“Exhibiting itself is very difficult,” he said. “And it doesn’t have any meaning because nobody comes.”
* Reuters
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Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
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Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
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How to invest in gold
Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.
A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Most advisers suggest sticking to “physical” ETFs. These hold actual gold bullion, bars and coins in a vault on investors’ behalf. Others do not hold gold but use derivatives to track the price instead, adding an extra layer of risk. The two biggest physical gold ETFs are SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust.
Another way to invest in gold’s success is to buy gold mining stocks, but Mr Gravier says this brings added risks and can be more volatile. “They have a serious downside potential should the price consolidate.”
Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”
Mining companies are a business, susceptible to other market forces, such as worker availability, health and safety, strikes, debt levels, and so on. “These have nothing to do with gold at all. It means that some companies will survive, others won’t.”
By contrast, when gold is mined, it just sits in a vault. “It doesn’t even rust, which means it retains its value,” Mr Kyprianou says.
You may already have exposure to gold miners in your portfolio, say, through an international ETF or actively managed mutual fund.
You could spread this risk with an actively managed fund that invests in a spread of gold miners, with the best known being BlackRock Gold & General. It is up an incredible 55 per cent over the past year, and 240 per cent over five years. As always, past performance is no guide to the future.
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How to help
Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
2252 - Dh50
6025 - Dh20
6027 - Dh100
6026 - Dh200
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What is the Supreme Petroleum Council?
The Abu Dhabi Supreme Petroleum Council was established in 1988 and is the highest governing body in Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas industry. The council formulates, oversees and executes the emirate’s petroleum-related policies. It also approves the allocation of capital spending across state-owned Adnoc’s upstream, downstream and midstream operations and functions as the company’s board of directors. The SPC’s mandate is also required for auctioning oil and gas concessions in Abu Dhabi and for awarding blocks to international oil companies. The council is chaired by Sheikh Khalifa, the President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi while Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, is the vice chairman.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding