First Ceramic Art Forum kicks off in Damascus

Around 12 artists are to take part in the event The first Ceramic Art Forum kicked off on Monday in Damascus Citadel, organised by the Department of Fine Arts and the Higher Institute for Applied Arts, with the participation of 12 artists.The Forum began with a press conference in which Chairman of the Plastic Artists Union Dr Haidar Yazeji said that this forum is a chance to bring this artistic medium to back to prominence, noting that ceramics feature heavily among archeological finds and thus constitute a part of its cultural and historical heritage.
Artists participating in the Forum will work over ten days before baking their works in kilns, and then they will colour them and put them on display in an exhibition. Afterwards, the works will be displaced in the gardens of al-Assad National Library and the Opera House.
Sariha Shahine, one of the participating artists, said that clay is flexible enough to produce magnificent works of art, saying she decided to move away from traditional pottery work and instead present a large piece that's 120 cm high, depicting a fantastical bird not present in nature.
In turn, artists Mohammad Kafouzi, who has been working with ceramics for ten years and is participating with a piece he calls "cannon," said that pottery is exhausting work, stressing the need to support this artistic medium.
For his part, artists Ra'fat Sa'ati said he is making an abstract piece that's 120 cm high, noting that the relationship between mankind and pottery is a very old one.
The Forum will continue its activities on daily basis in Damascus Citadel until the end of March.