The Ornina Forum for Culture features the civilized face of Homs.

Homs, (ST)- The Ornina Forum for Culture in Homs attracts an elite group of intellectuals and artists from Syria and abroad.This has made it a platform for culture, that highlights the cultural face of Homs in various cultural, historical, archaeological and social aspects.

Concerning the forum and its goals, Raymond Kapron, the forum’s director, told SANA that the forum, which was created more than a year ago, attracted thousands of fans, including  on line fans, thus endowing it with a distinctive character in Syria and many countries of the world.

He added that the Ornina Forum, deriving its name from the music gods of the ancient Syrians, started its activities with presenting  traditional evening parties in Homs, then with a documentary film entitled “Palms of Palmyra Do not bend” .” It tells the story of Khaled Al-Assaad, the Syrian archaeologist who was murdered by  terrorist gangs  in Palmyra, in a reference to him as a Palmyrian palm that refused to bow to the terrorists, as well as showing films of the World Cinema.

Talking about the Forum’s various activities, Kapron stressed that the forum managed to attract the audience as it hosted an elite group of archaeologists, plastic artists, writers and singers and carried out  distinguished seminars and symposiums.

He went on to say a heritage music band has been formed that includes eight elite young talented artists in Homs, in addition to organizing  an  exhibition on line , for plastic arts  with the participation of various countries of the world under the name “Syria, is a small geography but with a heart that accommodates the universe” with aim  to highlight and defend the true cultural and artistic face of Syria.

We also took many tourist trips to introduce our country’s ancient ruins and its historical importance, such as the Masyaf Castle and the Homs Museum, as well as see the excavation work in various archaeological areas in Homs.

Regarding the future activities of the forum, Kapron clarified that the forum seeks to support the cultural life in Homs, as it is in the process of carrying out  a competition for poetry and a short story, where it will adopt the printing, publishing and distribution of a booklet for this competition in honor of the winners. Seminars are also being prepared on the works of the outstanding writer Hanna Mina, as well as theatrical works that will be directed to people with special needs in cooperation with the Friends of the Book Association in a manner that suits their intellectual level and encourages them to continue reading.

The poet Rehab Ramadan, one of the forum’s members , made it clear that the forum supports every creative idea in all forms of culture, including poetry, drawing, sculpture, and antiquities, and shows special interest in the distinctive young voices and music.

The writer Ghassan Dalloul emphasized that the goal of this forum is to  consolidate national unity through the various activities  it is carrying out, which are a link between the intellectuals and their peers, expressing his happiness that his students are creative and excel in their work as if, as he said, the phoenix has revived  again, which indicates that reconstruction of the homeland can only be achieved through educating the human being, and promoting culture.

Amal Farhat