Mustafa Ali:” Damascus is in my heart and I am in the heart of history”

Mustafa Ali, a well-known Syrian artist and sculptor , was born in Ugarit, Lattakia, in 1956. He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus, department of sculpture, in 1979.

Then, he continued his studies at the Fine Arts Academy in Carrara, Italy 1996.

The artist Mustafa Ali is a member in  each of the Fine Arts Association, the Arab Plastic Artists Union and the Supreme Committee for collectibles in the Ministry of  Culture.

Artist Mustafa Ali has dozens of exhibitions starting in 1988 in  Ishtar gallery in Damascus, then in the nineties  he hold several solo exhibitions in Damascus, Beirut and Amman and after the year 2000  he moved  to  Aleppo, Bahrain and France. Mustafa Ali’s   joint exhibitions began in 1987 at the  World  Sculpture Forum   in Berlin and then in the World Forum for sculptors in Valencia, Spain. Also, Ali  participated in the Europe Art  exhibition  in Paris and in the Arab Art Festival in Montreal, Canada.

The sculptor Mustafa Ali got several awards including the Bronze Award at the Sharjah Biennial in 1992 and the Gold Award in Lattakia Biennial in 1997.

The artist Ali  established the renowned  Damascus art center “the Mustafa Ali Art Foundation”, which had  attracted visitors  who are interested in culture, art and heritage. Besides, Ali has been chosen recently by the Arabian Business magazine as one of the most influential personalities in the Arab  world  for the year 2014.

In a recent interview by Dam Press, artist Mustafa Ali said that the morality of the pure Syrian artist encourages him to  establish” the place ”  association of Fine Arts which helps talented young people to seize their opportunity in the field of sculpture.

“When man starts to achieve  his dreams, ambitions and success, he must do his best to serve his country and people. It  is my duty to give something to my country and this is what prompted me to create this  association to support the future  of the new generations who are  interested in arts. I intend to  establish a strategic vision of the importance of the arts on one hand, and its impact on the culture of the individual and society on the other. Besides, I  established a gallery and art institution like a museum which  includes a large collection of  distinguished artistic  works.” Ali continued.

Answering a question about his choice for  old Damascus to be the place of his own museum, Ali said:” Damascus is  in my heart and I am in the heart of history, I did not choose Damascus but I choose my country as the  symbol of history. I think that Damascus is considered as an artistic museum in  the Middle East, it is  without any doubt  the center of the ancient world.”

“I prepare for several exhibitions outside the country through  the coming months of this year.” Mustafa Ali Said. ” But the  painful years of the crisis in Syria  had  added  more and more sufferings to  the Syrians who suffered from all kinds of  terrorism. Thus, my next works convey  the reality of  the Syrian  community under  the three years of the crisis.” Ali added.

“When you love your country  you should give it everything, so I have a lot of projects and dreams  which I intend to  achieve for my beloved country. There are about 30 works  assembled in the exhibition hall in Syria, then they  would be moved to Beirut and then to other places like Paris.” Mustafa Ali concluded.

M.Wassouf