"I came to you, Damascus, to ask forgiveness for being so far away. Your jasmine still living in my breath, your Damascene blanket still warming my nights, just like when my mother would tuck it around me and whisper me to sleep. Damascus, no city feels like you, and no love remembers me the way you do. You taught me that nostalgia is a prayer, the roses are a homeland, and the jasmine is the family that never dies."<\/p>\n
These words by the renowned Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani were the emotional inspiration behind this painting and the starting point for its creation. This work is part of my Nizariyat collection, inspired by Qabbani's poetry and his deep connection to Damascus, memory, love, and belonging.<\/p>\n
The background incorporates the print of an authentic Damascene blanket. For me, this blanket carries both personal and cultural significance. I have owned it since I got married, and by integrating it into the artwork, I found a way to preserve something precious that was beginning to deteriorate with time. The blanket also echoes Qabbani's memories of childhood and his mother's warmth, transforming an everyday object into a symbol of comfort, family, heritage, and home. I intentionally left much of the canvas open to allow the blanket to become more than a background. It is a central character in the painting, carrying the memories, stories, and emotions that connect generations.<\/p>\n
The canvas is filled with Damascene jasmine and fragrant Damask roses, flowers that are inseparable from the identity of Damascus. In Qabbani's words, "the jasmine is the family that never dies," and the figures in this painting are my interpretation of that idea. They may represent a family, different generations, memories, or simply individuals connected by a shared sense of belonging. I intentionally leave their identities, genders, what they are wearing and stories open to interpretation, inviting the viewer to complete the narrative through their own experiences and emotions.<\/p>\n
The jasmine appears in different sizes throughout the composition. The larger blossoms represent memory, heritage, and the enduring presence of the past, while the smaller jasmine flowers symbolize renewal, hope, and new beginnings. For me, they reflect the possibility of rebirth and the continuation of life, carrying the spirit of Damascus into the future.<\/p>\n
The colors also hold personal meaning. The pink tones are a tribute to my father, whose favorite color was pink, while the fragrant Damask rose was his favorite flower. Their presence allows the painting to carry both personal and collective memories, intertwining my own family history with the cultural memory of Damascus. The warm earthy tones that represent the land, soft pinks, and vibrant floral elements create a balance between nostalgia and hope, memory and renewal, grounding the work in both the past and the future.<\/p>\n
Every element in the painting…the figures, the flowers, the colors, and the Damascene blanket, were placed intentionally and is connected to the ideas of memory, family, heritage, and the longing to return to something that once felt safe. While the work is rooted in my own experiences and in the poetry of Nizar Qabbani, I hope viewers will find their own memories, stories, and emotions reflected within it.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alma Faham<\/a>","protected":false},"author":3212,"featured_media":402320,"template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"o","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"product_cat":[486,493,180],"product_tag":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/galeriaazur.art\/esp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/402317"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/galeriaazur.art\/esp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/galeriaazur.art\/esp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/galeriaazur.art\/esp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/galeriaazur.art\/esp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/galeriaazur.art\/esp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/galeriaazur.art\/esp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=402317"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/galeriaazur.art\/esp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=402317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}