“Hama Printing Art” a Heritage Exhibition at Zawaya Gallery In Damascus

Damascus – With the aim of highlighting the harmony of the authentic heritage of Syrian culture, the “Welfi” cultural project, in cooperation with Gallery Zawaya in Damascus, held an exhibition of heritage products using the Hamawi (Related to Hama province) printing technique on fabric, created by craftsman Hassan Hawa and his students.

The week-long exhibition features a variety of heritage products made from the distinctive Hama printing art in a way that harmonizes traditional and contemporary elements, and showcases the artistic talents of Syrian youth, which give a renewed spirit to this cultural heritage element.

Printing on fabric “Hamawi printing” uses wooden molds on which decorations from the spirit of the city of Hama and its environment are engraved, including heritage figures and inscriptions in the Syriac language that were found on a sacred manuscript found in one of the churches in Hama.

Music was also present in these products through the engraving of the shape of the “rababa” and indications of singing “Ataba” (a type of folk singing), as the rababa is a musical instrument with a single string and is still widespread in the countryside of Hama, while the art of “Ataba” is a type of folk singing with special poetic rules.

The director of the “Welfi” project, Suad Jarous, told SANA that the Hama printing designs were inspired by the local environment with new additions to some designs, indicating that the project carried a message of protecting the Syrian heritage by preserving the crafts and professions of our ancestors and re-working them with love and in a simple, modern style.

“We love our heritage and seek to protect it, and we have tried to show this by providing support for these cultural projects that attract attention to the art and the culture they carry,” said Rula Suleiman, Director of Gallery Zawaya.

Hanan Shamout