'Not alone in the world': Campbell River Art Gallery unveils second half of Syrian art exhibition

The Campbell River Art Gallery (CRAG) held its second opening on Thursday evening for Behind the Lines, a travelling exhibition of Syrian contemporary artwork.

Two openings took place to accommodate the large number of paintings, photos, sculptures and other items on display.

The show features 20 contemporary Syrian artists, most of them refugees. Six of the artists remain in Syria, which has been embroiled in civil war since 2011. The conflict is believed to have killed more than 500,000 people.

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The Campbell River Art Gallery held a second opening tonight for Behind the Lines: Contemporary Syrian Art. The large number of artworks on loan for the exhibition required two separate openings. Most of the artists are refugees, and six of them remain in Syria. The show continues until July 3. . . . #art #artwork #syria #campbellriver

A post shared by Campbell River Mirror (@campbellrivermirror) on Jun 13, 2019 at 7:14pm PDT

“All of the works are full of emotion and many reference heavy subject matter,” the gallery said in a Facebook post on Monday. “We hope that by generating conversation around the artworks and the personal stories of the artists, we can find hope and strength in our community and remind ourselves that we are not alone in the world.”

The Penticton Art Gallery organized the exhibition in partnership with the Cyrrus Gallery of Damascus. The exhibition runs until July 3.

The exhibition is part of a program of events organized by CRAG to showcase Syrian culture. The series continues with an afternoon of Syrian food and music at Spirit Square on Saturday from 1-3 p.m.

The free event will feature the BaBa Gannouj food truck, accordion music, dancing and gallery tours. Visitors can also learn to write their names in Arabic.

For more details about the gallery’s programming, visit crartgallery.ca or the CRAG Facebook page.