#RiskandRebellion Participant 14. Issa Touma

#RiskandRebellion

Issa Touma is a photographer and curator from Aleppo, Syria. His photographic work can be found in major museum collections and his film 9 Days – From My Window in Aleppo has received international accolades, including the European Short Film Award 2016. Touma established the Black and White Gallery in 1992, the first photography gallery in the Middle East. After its closure in 1996, he founded Le Pont, an independent art organisation and gallery to promote freedom of expression and stimulate the local art scene through international events. In 1997, he started the International Photography Festival Aleppo, which despite the horrors and uncertainties of the conflict, continues to take place every year. In 2012, shortly after the war broke out, he initiated Art Camping. This event, which brings young people from various religious and ethnic backgrounds together for workshops, aims to counter violence with artistic interventions. He was an Artist At Risk (AR)-Safe Haven Helsinki (SHH) Resident in the winter of 2014-2015 and his artwork has been exhibited at all AR-Pavilions to date.