9th International Photography Festival, Syria

26/03/07

At the opening, there were artists from 20 countries. They came to experience Syria and support the festival's struggle to create an international art space and event in Aleppo.

Seventy artists from 28 countries were invited to show work in the Aleppo festival, with more than a thousand works of art. Over 40 artists and curators were able to attend the festival.

The Dutch Ambassador Desirée Bonis and her husband, an expert in Bedouin poetry and oral traditions, were there to show support. The former Dutch Ambassador to Egypt and the United Nations, Nicolaas Biegman, a photographer in his own right, considers bringing international guests to the festival very important for international exchange in the Middle East. The Director of the Goethe Institute in Damascus accompanied German photographer Johannes Hepp to Aleppo. And the U.S. Embassy's cultural attaché, Brian O'Rourke, was there.

We have started to move the exhibitions to different parts of the city; the first show will open on March 26 , at the Kalamoon University.

ISSA TOUMA