May 15, 2017 - The Alasalah is a group of Syrian youth and Syrian artists interested in reviving traditional Arab artistic tradition, with particular focus on Syrian heritage. They are involved in poetry, acting, music, song and dance. Louai Barakat/Zuma Press/Press Association Images. All rights reserved.Since the Syrian revolution, cultural activity has been of great political importance. Decades of political deprivation and the lack of means for political work in Syria led those interested in public affairs to find their ways into various types of cultural work as a means of having potential political impact.
Even when cultural actors in pre-revolutionary Syria didn’t directly seek to give political or social weight to their cultural work, that burden was placed on them in one way or another. This pre-revolutionary cultural work was distinct because it was to attribute its responsibility to different parties; either to the state and its various supervisory bodies, or to members of opposition parties that saw it as the only available platform for political resistance. Therefore, the product was evaluated based on its political connections.
It seems that the dialectic of pre-revolutionary Syria continues to provide valid analysis of the current Syrian cultural scene, despite all the geographical changes to Syria within its various spheres of power, as well as analysis of the millions of Syrians spread out to several countries abroad. This dialectic can help us understand the reality of Syrian cultural work today.
