{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-article-js","path":"/sara-shamma-on-representing-syria-at-the-61st-venice-biennale/","result":{"data":{"wordpressPost":{"id":118127,"slug":"sara-shamma-on-representing-syria-at-the-61st-venice-biennale","title":"Sara Shamma on Representing Syria at the 61st Venice Biennale","excerpt":"“I have been to Venice many times and I truly love the city. In a way it reminds me of Damascus”","content":"\n

“I have been to Venice many times and I truly love the city. In a way it reminds me of Damascus”

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ArtReview sent a questionnaire to artists and curators exhibiting in and curating the various national pavilions of the 2026 Venice Biennale, the responses to which will be published daily in the leadup to and during the Venice Biennale, which runs from 9 May through 22 November.

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Sara Shamma is representing Syria; the pavilion is in the Universitá Iuav di Venezia (Cotonificio campus).

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Celebrating Visions. Versace partners with ArtReview to share stories from the 2026 Venice Biennale.

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Photo: Mohammad Azaat
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ArtReview Tell ArtReview what you plan to exhibit in Venice. What has influenced or inspired you? 

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Sara Shamma I will present a largescale 15m-high immersive installation titled The Tower Tomb of Palmyra. The work brings together painting, architecture, light, sound and scent to create a multisensory environment inspired by the ancient funerary towers of Palmyra. These towers once rose above the desert as monumental family mausoleums and stood at a crossroads of cultures – Greco-Roman, Aramaic and Arab – where communities of different religions and backgrounds coexisted. 

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The project emerges from my longstanding engagement with the human condition and with the cultural memory of Syria. Palmyra’s towers were destroyed during the Syrian War (2011–24) and many funerary portraits were looted and dispersed across the world. For me they have become powerful symbols of both loss and endurance. The installation reflects on this destruction but it is also about resilience and renewal, about how culture and memory persist even after physical structures disappear. 

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My inspiration comes from Syria’s layered history and from the resilience of its people. Through painting and the spatial experience of the installation, I want to evoke the spiritual and human dimensions of heritage, reminding us that cultural objects carry identity, memory and shared history. Ultimately, the work is not only about mourning what has been lost but also about hope and the importance of protecting and restoring our shared heritage.

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AR In what ways (if at all) does your work relate to the theme of the Biennale exhibition, In Minor Keys?

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SS Koyo Kouoh’s concept for In Minor Keys resonates deeply with my work. In The Tower Tomb of Palmyra, which reflects on death and memory, once you enter the tower, the noise of the world fades and what remains are quieter emotional frequencies: reflection, loss, resilience and hope.

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I have always been deeply inspired by music – especially blues and Sufi music – and by the quiet state of meditation I enter when I paint. What inspires me is not the grand orchestral performance but the intimacy of improvisation, the music that comes directly from the heart. My painting process is similar: I don’t plan the work or make sketches; I begin with a blank canvas and allow the image to emerge. In that sense, the work becomes a space for listening, echoing Kouoh’s vision of attending to the subtle, contemplative registers of human experience and focusing on quieter, affective worlds that sustain life and beauty even amid ‘the anxious cacophony of the present chaos raging through the world’.

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AR Why is the Venice Biennale still important, if at all? 

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SS The Venice Biennale creates a rare space where artists from many cultures can meet and share perspectives with a global audience. For countries like Syria, it offers an integral platform for our moment of renewal, highlighting how Syria’s cultural voice is reemerging stronger on the global stage following the war. It is also an opportunity to reconnect with the international cultural community and contribute to wider conversations about history, memory and the human condition. Art can open spaces for reflection and understanding that other forms of discourse often cannot.

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AR What role does a national pavilion play at a time of increasing confrontational nationalisms? Is it about expressing difference or commonality?

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SS At a time of growing nationalisms, I see a national pavilion as a place to reconnect rather than to emphasise separation. For Syria, participating in the Venice Biennale is a way to rejoin the international cultural conversation after many difficult years. Our history, from ancient Palmyra to today, has always been shaped by encounters between different cultures, ethnicities and religions, and that diversity is what enriches Syrian culture and connects it to the wider world.

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Untitled, 2025, oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm Courtesy the artist
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AR Who, for you, is the most important artist (in any discipline) that your country has produced?  

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SS For me, one of the most remarkable artists Syria has produced is Apollodorus of Damascus, the eminent architect and engineer of the second century AD. A Syrian from Damascus, he profoundly influenced the Roman world through creation rather than destruction, designing some of its most enduring monuments. Among them are Trajan’s Column and Trajan’s Market in Rome, both of which still stand today. His legacy serves as a powerful reminder that Syrian culture has long been connected to and enriching the wider world.

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AR What is something you want people to know about your nation that they might not know already?

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SS Syria is an ancient country. Its stones carry thousands of years of history and in many ways the people carry that depth as well. Syrians have endured many hardships yet they continue to work hard, remain hopeful and look towards the future with optimism. Even in difficult circumstances, generosity, strong ethics and faith remain central values.

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At the same time, Syrians are open-minded while deeply connected to their traditions. What many people may not realise is how much creativity and energy exist in the country, in the arts, in culture and in business. With the right opportunities, Syrians have always shown an extraordinary capacity to create and contribute.

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AR Given that you are exhibiting in a national pavilion, is there something (a quality or an issue or attitude) that distinguishes the art of that nation from that of others? That makes it particular? Are there specific contexts that it responds to? Or do you think that art is a universal language that goes beyond social, political or geographic boundaries?

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SS I believe art is ultimately a universal language that goes beyond social, political and geographic boundaries. While every artist is shaped by their own culture and experiences, the emotions and questions that art explores – memory, loss, hope, identity – are shared by all human beings.

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For me, the role of art is to create connections between people rather than to emphasise divisions, allowing audiences from different backgrounds to recognise something of themselves in the work.

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AR What, other than art, are you looking forward to seeing – or doing – while you are in Venice?

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SS I have been to Venice many times and I truly love the city. In a way it reminds me of Damascus. If you know Damascus, you may recognise the same narrow streets, the sense of history and the feeling that life has been unfolding there for centuries. When I am in Venice, I feel strangely at home.

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Every visit reveals something new and enriching. Venice lives within the grandeur of its past and yet that spirit continues to exist in the present, which makes the experience of being there always unique.

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AR Could you give us a brief overview of your average working day while creating your presentation in Venice?

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SS My working routine did not change very much while preparing the project for the Venice Biennale. I still go to my studio every morning, paint, listen to music and slowly enter the emotional atmosphere of the work. The studio is my natural habitat, where the paintings emerge.

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What was different for this project was the research beyond the studio. I visited the National Museum of Damascus several times to study the tombs of Palmyra, worked closely with curator Yuko Hasegawa when she visited Damascus, collaborated with traditional perfume makers to create the scent for the pavilion and recorded the sounds of the desert in a cinema studio. But the heart of the work still begins each day in the quiet of the studio.

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AR Can art really change the world?

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SS The world is always changing and everything we do contributes to that change. Art may not stop wars, but it still changes the world in quieter ways – by making it more beautiful, more thoughtful and more humane.

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Art, in all its forms, is one of the most peaceful acts we can offer. Even if its voice is softer than the violence of war, art endures. Long after destruction fades, art remains as a testament to human creativity, memory and the enduring will to live.

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The 61st Venice Biennale runs 9 May through 22 November 2026

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