Meet the Artist: Exhibition Tour 2

Celebrating Syrian Art in Exile

Come along to the first of two exhibition tours to meet Manya Alkhmri & Tarek Tuma and hear more about their life and work.

This event is part of Celebrating Syria 2022: a Festival of Arts and Culture. For the full festival programme, please visit celebratingsyria.org

The Exhibition

For over a decade the war in Syria has led to the displacement of over half of the population from their homes. Of those, over 6.6 million people have found refuge outside Syria. In their exile, Syrian artists have continued their cultural and artistic production. In this exhibition, five UK-based Syrian artists showcase their work as they reflect on and engage with this year’s festival theme: Distance.

For more information about the exhibition and opening times, please visit: https://www.celebratingsyria.org/event-details/celebrating-syrian-art-in-exile

(Image: The Wound by Ammar Azzouz)

Manya Alkhmri

Manya Alkhmri is a Manchester-based artist, born and raised in Syria. She uses different media and materials, focusing on painting and sculpture. She loves to explore nature and landscapes, where she can express emotions using huge spaces, colours and textures. She studied sculpture at the Institute of Applied Art, Damascus, Syria (2000-2002). She has a bachelor's degree in Creative Media and Visual Communication from Manchester Metropolitan University.

Manya exhibited at Damascus Castle Gallery (2002), Alassd Library in Damascus (2004) and participated in Celebrating Syria Festival of Art and Culture in Manchester in 2017 and 2019. In 2018 she jointly exhibited at Rethink Rebuild Society (Syrian Community Centre) in Manchester.

Manya is a member of CIWA, a collective of international women artists based in the North West of England. Between 2017 and 2018 the group of artists met through the Travelling Heritage Bureau project and participated in collective exhibitions and performances at HOME Mcr during Refugee Week, Thread Bearing Witness exhibition at The Whitworth Art Gallery with artist Alice Kettle, A Room of One’s Own at Zellij Arts and Still I Rise at Manchester Art Gallery. Manya had also worked with the Arts Council in Manchester and delivered many creative workshops.

She is currently developing her art practice as a tool for activism to express her views around the issues she’s concerned about.

Tarek Tuma

Just two months after having worked as a student of anaesthesiology in a Damascene hospital, Tarek Tuma decided to start a new life in London. Beginning in 2007, he was accepted into The Art Academy and later graduated from the prestigious City & Guilds of London Art School. Tarek is an artist and an art teacher based in London.