Seite - 172 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Band 4/2018

172 Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 4 2o18 Charlotte Bank | Remaking a World Since the beginning of the Syrian uprising in 2011, a considerable number of artists have tak- en their place among those displaced by the violence. In the early stages of the conflict, many chose to settle provisionally in other countries of the region, such as Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt or Turkey, hoping to return soon to Syria. However, as the conflict wore on and the possibility of a quick solution diminished, most of these artists began to look for more permanent solutions. Beirut became home to some of the more established artists, who have chosen the city due to its status as one of the main artistic centres of the Arab world. In contrast, many early-career artists have sought to settle in Europe. Although many were drawn to Paris due to its traditional asso- ciations with art and its large number of Arab intellectual exiles, Berlin’s cosmopolitan vibrancy and relatively liberal asylum policies also proved attractive. As these artists move into new environments, they face numerous new concerns. Having previously worked under conditions of censorship in authoritarian Syria, they have developed ways to mediate aesthetic languages comprehensible to local audiences without encountering repression. In their new locations of residence, outside of this familiar albeit problematic ter- rain, they find themselves faced with the need of critically rethinking their previous practices. Unfamiliar institutional landscapes might also complicate a smooth integration into the local artistic and cultural scenes. Adding to this already complex situation, emotionally stressful situ- ations and traumatic experiences encountered in Syria due to violence, war and flight can make a new beginning particularly difficult. Despite this, Syrian artists have proven apt at integrating into existing systems of representation and even initiating new spaces for work. When the uprising began as a largely popular, revolutionary movement, many artists were at first hesitant to join in, at least as artists rather than activists. There was a widespread senti- ment, that a certain temporal distance was needed in order to reflect on ongoing events. Ex- amples of creative forms of protest and resistance appeared online soon after the beginning of the demonstrations in the streets, but these were mostly the work of groups of young activists.1 However, starting from the middle of the year, works by professional artists also began to appear on various online platforms, bringing a new importance to the Internet as a space for artistic debates and the dissemination of critical works. The works uploaded online differed strongly from earlier forms of critical artistic production, as they were exceptionally frank in their artic- ulation of critique of the Syrian regime. In many cases, artists chose to work anonymously in order to steer free of repercussions, or they hid their identities behind synonyms or collective names.2 In these early works, denouncement of regime violence, solidarity with the peaceful protests and the call for citizen’s rights, freedom and dignity were the central themes. And de- spite widespread violence encountered during the demonstrations, there remained an element of hope in these works, that justice would prevail in the end, and Syria become a free country. This hopeful attitude continued for some time, even after the formation of an armed resistance. Yet, as the conflict wore on and became increasingly violent, this element of hope largely disap- peared, and the distinctly activist character of art diminished. If artists had previously called directly for political change, they were now more and more preoccupied with themes of destruction, tor- ture, flight and exile. And as increasing numbers of artists saw themselves forced to leave the coun- try, they took these themes with them and brought them onto the international exhibition stage. 1 See Al-Ghazzi 2014 for a discussion on digital media activism in the early months of the Syrian uprising. 2 For a discussion of some of these early works of artistic activism, see Bank 2014 and 2016.