{"id":4837,"date":"2017-11-06T09:44:24","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T07:44:24","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2019-01-29T12:20:35","modified_gmt":"2019-01-29T10:20:35","slug":"daas","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/faces-stories\/daas\/","title":{"rendered":"Daas"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1511022388651{margin-top: 30px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\"Daas\"
Daas (Syria)<\/em>, 2017,\u00a0Gicl\u00e9e fine art print, 160 x 120 cm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Daas<\/strong>
\n28 years old<\/strong>
\nSyria<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I never had the chance to visit a contemporary art museum before. Up to now, the only art I knew was ancient art. I\u2019m glad that through this program I can become familiar with contemporary art as well, and learn some new things. However, I think a work of art should be beautiful and relax you when you look at it. I also want to be able to understand what the artist is trying to say through the work.<\/p>\n

In Bottari<\/em>, Kimsooja perhaps wants to tell a story of love or joy or sadness, or one that has to do with refugees. These are things that have always engaged people. But still, we\u2019d have a better idea of what the work is talking about if the bundles were open and we could see what\u2019s hidden inside. Also, the fabrics she used and the designs she embroidered on them perhaps weren\u2019t from her country but are fabrics and bundles that people all over the world use. In Syria, for example, women usually wrap their things in their headscarf or, in the old days, when a woman got married, she would receive her dowry wrapped in a similar cloth of pure white. And when the farmers went out to work, they\u2019d put their food or clothes in a bundle like that. So, I think the artist wants to convey a universal message through this piece.<\/p>\n

Do-\u0397o Suh\u2019s work with the staircase1<\/sup> gives you the sense it\u2019s probably about the artist\u2019s dream of being in another world, perhaps in Paradise. \u00a0I think it\u2019s because the way the work is lit; the lighting is diffuse and bright and calming. Furthermore, the staircase is made of fabric, which is very light and obviously not solid enough to step on and climb. Besides, when we dream, our footsteps don\u2019t feel heavy. Finally, the staircase is higher than the ground, precisely to show that the work isn\u2019t about the real world but a world we can enter from our dreams.<\/p>\n

The work reminded me of a dream I used to have when I was young. I would dream that I was climbing a ladder and when I got near the top, I\u2019d fall down. There was no one around. As I was falling, I felt that I was going to die but, in the end, I wasn\u2019t hurt. I still have dreams with ladders and falling off roofs.<\/p>\n

However, both works\u2014Kimsooja\u2019s and Do-\u0397o Suh\u2019s\u2014seem to be referring to the past as well as to the present.<\/p>\n

I live in Kypseli now, in a flat I share with three other roommates. It\u2019s the first time I\u2019m living with people who aren\u2019t members of my family. But it doesn\u2019t bother me. In fact, I\u2019ve become friends with some of the guys. The only problem is that oftentimes a roommate will leave with the relocation programme and another will come and take his place. Having to say goodbye like that upsets me, especially when I lose a roommate I\u2019ve become close friends with.<\/p>\n

The reason I don\u2019t like farewells is that, in Syria, I lost my mother and many close friends, people I trusted and could rely on for support. I don\u2019t want to lose anyone else in my life, and when I see families on the street, tears come to my eyes.<\/p>\n

A lot of times, the things I\u2019ve experienced make me feel lonesome, and I often sit by myself and cry. When I saw Do-Ho Suh\u2019s staircase hanging there so high and isolated from the rest of the space, I imagined that there was a chair up there and I was sitting on it, far from everyone and everything.\u00a0 People often feel alone, even when they\u2019re with a lot of other people, and that\u2019s the worst feeling. It\u2019s exhausting. But when you find yourself isolated somewhere, you\u2019re forced to confront what it means to be truly alone, and this awareness liberates and comforts you.<\/p>\n

In Vlassis Caniaris\u2019 work2<\/sup> I could see that Greeks in the past had gone through experiences like the ones I went through, leaving my country to come here. I remembered a saying we have, life is a wheel that comes around. What I\u2019m going through now could happen to someone else tomorrow. Of course, it\u2019s also significant that the artist chose to depict a game that\u2019s played on one foot. But while you may play hopscotch on one foot, in real life you eventually have to stand on your own two feet.<\/p>\n

Most of the suitcases in the work are not only closed, they\u2019re also bound with rope. It shows how much the owner of the suitcase values the few things hidden inside and how much he wants to protect them. The same is true for all of us. We each hide things inside us that we don\u2019t share with anyone else. Anyway, a person doesn\u2019t have to reveal everything; he might want to keep his memories and feelings stored in his heart and mind.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t understand what\u2019s written on the squares of the work. When we play this game in Syria, we put a number in each square. Maybe Caniaris wrote the names of countries in his squares. On the other hand, if the work had to do with Syria, I\u2019d write the names of the armed groups that destroyed my country.<\/p>\n

Despite the difficult conditions I\u2019ve experienced, I still have dreams for the future. My dream is to be able to study. In fact, if I could afford it, I\u2019d study all my life. I enjoy studying, and I wouldn\u2019t have a problem, whatever the subject. But maybe I\u2019d probably choose computers, with the idea of becoming a network engineer. A Greek friend of mine suggested I go into marketing because it gives you the chance to build relations with a lot of people. Of course, foreign languages are also extremely important. I\u2019ve learned, though, that you have to approach your studies step by step. If you try to do everything at once, you\u2019ll get lost and bogged down.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I want to make a start somewhere.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1\u00a0<\/sup>Refers to Staircase II<\/em>, 2004.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>Refers to the work Hopscotch<\/em>, 1974.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Audio Files<\/strong><\/h5>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]\u0395\u03bb\u03bb\u03b7\u03bd\u03b9\u03ba\u03ac<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

English<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/mp3\/Daas-E.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u0639\u0631\u0628\u064a<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/mp3\/Daas-A.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u0641\u0627\u0631\u0633\u06cc<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/mp3\/Daas-F.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

[vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″]Slovensk\u00fd<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/mp3\/Daas_28_Syria.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

[\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner]<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1511022388651{margin-top: 30px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text] Daas 28 years old Syria I never had the chance to visit a contemporary art museum before. Up to now, the only art I knew was ancient art. I\u2019m glad that through this program I can become familiar with contemporary art as well, and learn some new things. However, I think […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":18,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4837","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4837"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7959,"href":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4837\/revisions\/7959"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.faceforward.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}