For security reasons, we couldn’t announce it earlier—but we are pleased to share that Issa Touma has returned to Helsinki for a renewed AR-Residency! Touma is a self-taught photographer and film director based in Aleppo, Syria, where he has run the Le Pont Gallery for Contemporary Photography since 1996.
Issa Touma first arrived in Helsinki in the winter of 2014-2015. At the time, Issa said he was not really interested in leaving his home town in Aleppo, but that he was worried about his photographs and film materials. He wanted to digitise them, but in the midst of the civil war in Syria the electricity-supply was anything but reliable…
During his first AR-Residency, many great projects took shape. His film ‘9 Days – From My Window In Aleppo’, first developed during this period, went on to win prestigious accolades, including the Best Short Film at the London Film Festival and the European Film Awards.
Yet in 2015, after a three-month Artists at Risk (AR)-Residency on the island of Suomenlinna in Helsinki, despite the escalating civil war, Issa was determined to go home. AR cautioned against it, and initiated a Plan B. Artists at Risk (AR) convinced its colleagues at ICORN to begin hosting artists of other art disciplines — going beyond its traditional remit of heping only writers — and Touma was accepted. Issa’s residency in Gävle, Sweden was the outcome. Forgoing the full residency period, however, and rather than sitting comfortably on his hands, Issa preferred to go back to Aleppo to rebuild his country.
Since 2014, Issa Touma has been part of key AR / Perpetuum Mobile (PM) curated events, from the very first Artists at Risk(AR)-Pavilion (https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/122323/artists-at-risk-ar-a-mondial-institution-for-art-practitioners-under-threat/) to the most recent Pavilion on the occasion of the Venice Biennale (https://artistsatrisk.org/artists-at-riskar-unesco-pavilion/?lang=en).
Fast forward to 2025. In the context of the present volatile situation in Syria, with a new government headed by the ostensibly reformed Islamist-extremist Al-Golani/Al-Sharaa, Touma felt compelled to take stock. The danger to minorities and threats to artistic freedom are evident, and he has already collected new materials while visiting Idlib at immense risk. He felt it would be safer to reflect on these dangers from abroad.
When Touma left Syria in January, the new government’s militias had begun destroying statues of Syrian writers. He witnessed the Islamic militia using Christian historical churchyards in Idlib as shooting ranges. These developments also led him to cover the windows of his gallery for the first time in 30 years to protect it from potential harm. The status of minorities, artists and galleries under the new regime remains uncertain.
Photography
His photography can be found in several international collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, FOMU Museum in Antwerpen, PM Collections and more, most recently exhibited at the “Artists at Risk Pavilion. Artists. Risk. Humans. Rights.” on the occasion of the Venice Biennale with the support of UNESCO.
World Press Photo Involvement:
2019 World Press Photo Digital Storytelling Contest winner
2023 World Press Photo Contest Jury member
Documentary films
His films have won the highest accolades:
“9 Days from my window in Aleppo” (2016)
- European Film Award for Best Short Film (December, 2016)
- Best Short Film at the London Film Festival (October, 2016)
- Tribute Award at the International Short Film Festival in New York (October, 2016)
- It has been shown in more than 60 festivals and around 50 cultural activities around the world.
“Greetings from Aleppo” (2017)
- opened the International Film Festival of Rotterdam IFFR (January, 2017).
- Dig Award, Italy (June, 2017)
- Directors NL Award (2018)
“Young in Aleppo” (2023)
- Paris Short Film Award, Jury Award (2023)
An Educator in Human Rights and the Arts
Touma is also a sharp commentator and educator. His opinions are sought and respected by diplomats as much as artists and politicans in Aleppo, Syria and beyond. His Le Pont Gallery has been one of the few if not only centres for education of young photographers, filmmakers and human rights defenders in Aleppo, educating young women, for example, to film their own experiences.
AR-Safe Haven Helsinki is co-funded by the City of Helsinki and The Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike).
