Syrian Artist Loujaina Al assil an icon of drawings for children literature
When the plastic artist Loujaina Al assil was honored in 2017 on the Syrian Culture Day, she described her country’s celebration of her as the most precious to her heart because Syria was and still steadfast and strong despite all the sacrifices and the darkest conditions it has faced .
Artist Al assil was born in Damascus in 1946. She obtained a license in Visual Communication and Interior Architecture from the Faculty of Fine Arts in 1969. Until today, she works in drawings and artistic supervision of a number of Syrian and Arabic children’s magazines and books.
She taught children’s book illustrations and interior architecture at the College of Fine Arts, and was certified as an art expert for children’s books at the Ministry of Culture.
Over the years, she gave dozens of lectures in her field of specialization and supervised several workshops on children’s book illustrations in Syria, Italy, Kuwait, the Emirates, Tunisia and Lebanon. She is currently training professionals and amateur artists in the field of drawing children’s literature.
Al assil’s artistic production characterized by abundance and diversity including nearly 200 paintings, acquired by museums or individually, the design of many advertising campaigns, decorations, theatrical characters, children’s puppets, and drawings for cartoons, texts and drawings for 26 children’s television episodes, many scripts for children’s magazines, and the design and drawing of more than 70 children’s books issued by Syrian and Arab publishing houses.
She received many prizes and honors, including the first prize for designing a wall poster for the Arab Film Festival in Famik, France, the medal of the Arab Council for Childhood and Development in Cairo for designing a cartoon character for the Arab child, the medal for the International Competition for Children’s Book Illustrations in Japan, and the prize for the best children’s book at the Beirut International Book Fair.
She was honored by the Ministry of Culture in Syria twice in a row in the field of children’s book and journalism and as a plastic artist.
The Syrian artist had solo exhibitions of drawing and painting in Syria, Jordan, France and Italy, in addition to many participations in bilateral and collective Arab and international exhibitions. In the field of children’s book illustrations, she participated in exhibitions in Slovakia, Japan, Iran, France, Italy, Serbia, Germany, Tunisia and America.
Al assil is a member of the International Children’s Book Organization in Switzerland, the BIB Artists Union for Children’s Book Illustrators in Slovakia, and the Syrian Plastic Artists Union.
Rawaa Ghanam