International wood sculpture forum kicks off in Damascus

The International Wood Sculpture Forum kicked off on Saturday at Damascus Citadel under the title "Syrian Plastic Art Still Glorious". 11 artists from 7 countries, including Italy, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Russia, Iran and Syria are participating in the Forum, which continues until July, 18th. Aktham Abdul-Hamid, one of the participating sculptors, said "Despite the misleading media campaign targeting Syria, we are holding this forum to convey the bright image of the Syrian culture." Abdul-Hamid added that inviting the artists was difficult because of the mistaken information concerning the situation in Syria. He indicated that this forum is distinguished by its diversity, which is reflected in the participant artists who came from different cultures. Greek sculptor Antonis Mirodias said he is happy with his continuous participations in sculpture forums in Syria, which is the source of the civilizations for more than 6 thousand years. For his part, the Spanish sculptor Fernando Alvarez said "I've participated in many sculpture forums in Syria, but this time I came because of the friendship relations I have with Syrian artists and Syrian persons. I didn't care for the media reports aiming at distorting the reputation of Syria… the country that I've known its hospitable people and its culture".