Reviving Heritage Loom in Art Exhibition in Lattakia

Handloom weaving is a traditional craft for which the Syrians have been famous for thousands of years. It has a special artistic imprint that gives it unique identity.

Aiming at reviving this important heritage craft, the Syrian Plastic artist Ali Hmaisheh recently held an exhibition containing artworks implemented on heritage loom” in cooperation with his son Baher, a Down syndrome patient, at Hishoon Art gallery in Lattakia province.

The artist adopted a new idea in terms of technique and tools aiming to revive this key heritage craft in a new artistic method.

Twenty paintings by the father and the son were turned by artist Hmaisheh into weaved works on heritage loom. Nine of these paintings were done by the son Baher. The works varied between abstraction, expressionism in addition to paintings for famous world artists.

The Syriatimes e-newspaper visited the exhibition and met the artist who said “this exhibition presented a new idea and it was a challenge to present this heritage from a new technical point of view”. “It is different from other exhibitions in terms of the visual impact of the paintings on the loom of the traditional rugs from the visual impact of photography” according to the artist.

The exhibition is a cultural and humanitarian situation that showed the need to support the talents of the society’s different categories .

Concerning his son Baher’s participation in the exhibition Artist Hmaisheh underscored that Baher paints instinctively and his participation in the exhibition deepens his relation with painting.

“My son’s creative talents of drawing, playing the piano and acting are a great message to the world stressing that the children with Down’s syndrome are distinguished individuals with remarkable abilities and talents that need development and care so as to actively integrate these children into society and meet their special needs”, the artist highlighted.

The smile of the little artist Bahr Hmisheh was no less beautiful than the displayed paintings when he talked proudly about his participation in the exhibition. His works included paintings depicting nature and the sea and he expressed his desire to represent Syria in Arab and local exhibitions.

Artist Hamisha is from Lattakia province. He is also a poet and a writer. He participated in a number of local and international exhibitions and festivals on the art of recycling.

Interviewed by : Rawaa Ghanam