Syria 2021 New excavations and restoration projects

September 2021 I traveled in Syria to document new excavations and restoration projects.
The results were shown in an exhibition of posters based on my paintings and drawings at the National Museum in Damascus from May 2022 on. The posters will be used to inform the public about the current activities of the Syrian Antiquities Service.
Trip and exhibition were supported by the Mondriaan Fund, Foundation Oosters Instituut and Foundation Stokroos.

In september 2021 reisde ik in Syrië en documenteerde nieuwe opgravingen en restauratieprojecten.
Het resulteerde in mei 2022 in een tentoonstelling van posters gebaseerd op mijn schilderijen en tekeningen in het Nationaal Museum in Damascus. De posters informeren het publiek over de lopende activiteiten van de Syrische Oudhedendienst
De reis werd financieel ondersteund door het Mondriaanfonds, Stichting Oosters Instituut en Stichting Stokroos.

poster Omayya Aleppo
Poster with the restoration of the Great Mosque in Aleppo

01 Aleppo (1)
ALEPPO
Restoration of the Great Mosque
gouache, 33 x 40,5 cm.

01 Aleppo (2)
Restoration of Medrese Sayf ad-Dawla al-Hamdani in Aleppo
gouache, 32,5 x 43 cm.

01 Aleppo (3)
Restoration of Beit Masraja in Aleppo
gouache, 33 x 43 cm.

01 Aleppo tek (1)
Restoration of the Great Mosque of Aleppo, carpenter
pencil, 29 x 21 cm.

01 Aleppo tek (2)
Restoration of the Great Mosque of Aleppo, carpenter
pencil, 29 x 21 cm.

01 Aleppo tek (3)
Restoration Great Mosque of Aleppo, stone worker
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

01 Aleppo tek (4)
Restoration Citadel of Aleppo
(color)pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

01 Aleppo tek (5)
Restoration of the Citadel of Aleppo, stone worker
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

01 Aleppo tek (5a)
Restoration Beit Masraja, Aleppo, mason at work
pencil, 29 x 21 cm.

02 Homs (1)
HOMS
Restored Khaled Ibn Walid Mosque in the destroyed quarter of Khaldiye
gouache, 32,5 x 42,5 cm.

02 Homs (2)
Restored iwan of Beit Zahrawi in the Old City of Homs
gouache, 42 x 32,5 cm.

02 Homs (3)
Abu Khaled showing his new electrical motorbike in the Old City of Homs
gouache, 45 x 30,5 cm.

02 Homs (4)
The heavily damaged Beit Mufid al-Amin in the Old City of Homs
gouache, 33 x 42,5 cm.

02 Homs (5)
The restored al-Basrawi Moskee in the Old City of Homs
gouache, 32,5 x 42,5 cm.

02 Homs tek (1a)
View from the terrace of the Khaled ibn al-Walid Mosque into the destroyed quarter of Khaldiye
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

02 Homs tek (1b)
Restoration of the Dohaia al-Kalby Mosque in the Old City of Homs
pencil, 21 x 29

02 Homs (6)
Emergency excavation at Tell Ali Idriss, Homs gouache, 32,5 x 42,5 cm.

02 Homs tek (2)
Tell Ali Idriss, Homs
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

02 Homs tek (3)
Emergency excavation at Tell Ali Idriss, Homs
pencil 21 x 29 cm.

02 Homs tek (4)
Thérèse Leyoun, head of excavations of the Antiquities Service of Homs, sorting out sherds in her office
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

03 Hama (1)
HAMA
Al-Jabri water wheel, Hama
gouache, 28 x 40 cm.

03 Hama tek (1a)
Mohammed al-Sweidani, draughtsman at the Museum of Hama
(color)pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

03 Hama tek (1b)
Samaher al-Yasin, bone specialist and head of Excavations at the Antiquities Service of Hama
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

03 Hama tek (1c)
Abdel Kader al-Ferzat, director of the Antiquities Service of Hama, in his office
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

03 Hama tek (2)
Lubana, executive secretary of the Museum of Hama in het office
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

03 Hama tek (3)
Walid Moussa, restoring a mother of pearl frame at Beit Bilal in Hama

03 Hama (2)
HAMA
Restoration of Beit al-Masri
gouache, 23 x 30 cm.

03 Hama tek (4).jpg
Restoration of the water basin in the courtyard of Beit al-Masri in Hama
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

03 Hama tek (5)
Replacing the stones of the water basin of Beit al-Masri in Hama
pencil 21 x 29 cm.

03 Hama tek (6).jpg
Qutaibe and Abdulhadi, stone workers at Beit al-Masri in Homs
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

004 Mnin 01.jpg
MNIN, RIF DIMASHQ
The rock cut temples of Mnin
(color)pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

004 Mnin 02
The rock cut temples at Mnin, Rif Dimashq
(color)pencil, 27 x 40 cm.

04 Halboun 01
RIF DIMASHQ
The gulch of Halboun with road block
gouache 32,5 x 43 cm.

04 Halboun tek (1)
Lieutenant Ali Hasan of the Fouth Division in Halboun, Rif Dimashq
(color)pencil, 29 x 21 cm.

04 Halboun tek (2).jpg
Billboard of Bashar at the entrance of the gulch of Halboun
pencil, 29 x 21 cm.

05 Damascus 01
DAMASCUS
Excavation of Souk Sagha, next to Omayyad Mosque
gouache, 43 x 30 cm.

05 Damascus tek (1)
WORK AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF DAMASCUS
Mona al-Tabl, restoring pottery from the excavation of Ebla
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

05 Damascus tek (3)
Rula Darghan, documentalist at the museum in Damascus
pencil, 29 x 21 cm.

05 Damascus tek (4)
Rula and Vivian, documentalists at the museum in Damascus
pencil, 29 x 21 cm.

05 Damascus tek (5).jpg
Elyas Abd al-Nour, scanning photo negatives at the museum in Damascus
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

05 Damascus tek (7).jpg
Elyas Abd al-Nour drawing sherds at the museum in Damascus
pencil, 29 x 21 cm.

05 Damascus tek (8).jpg
Laeth Hussein, inking pottery drawings at the museum in Damascus
pencil, 29 x 21 cm.

05 Damascus Tell Ferzat, tek (1)
TELL FERZAT, EASTERN OASIS OF DAMASCUS
A  team of Sapienza University of Rome measuring heights of ancient floors and walls
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

05 Damascus Tell Ferzat, tek (1a)
A team of Sapienza University of Rome preparing the theodolite at Tell Ferzat, eastern oasis of Damascus
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

05 Damascus Tell Ferzat, tek (2)
The Bronze Age settlement hill of Tell Ferzat in the eastern oasis of Damascus
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

05 Damascus Tell Ferzat, tek (2a)
Augusto Mazzoni measuring heights at Tell Ferzat, eastern oasis of Damascus
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

05 Damascus Tell Ferzat, tek (5)
Davide Nadali, head of excavation, and Mattia Petrini, documenting survey finds at Tell Ferzat in the eastern oasis of Damascus
pencil, 29 x 21 cm.

06 Palmyra (1)
PALMYRA
Temple of Bel after damage by IS
gouache, 32,5 x 42,5 cm.

06 Palmyra (2)
Temple of Bel in Palmyra after damage by IS
gouache, 32,5 x 43 cm.

06 Palmyra (3)
Triumphal Arch in Palmyra after damage by IS
gouache, 43 x 33 cm.

06 Palmyra (4)
Theatre in Palmyra after damage by IS
gouache, 42,5 x 33 cm.

06 Palmyra tek (1a)
Entrance hall of the museum of Palmyra with memorial for Khaled al-Asa´ad
pencil, 29 x 21 cm.

06 Palmyra tek (1b)
Destroyed showcase in the museum of Palmyra
(color)pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

06 Palmyra tek (1c)
The Triumphal Arch in Palmyra after damage by IS
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

06 Palmyra tek (1d)
Temple of Bel in Palmyra after damage by IS
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

06 Palmyra tek (2a)
Mohammed Khaled al-Abdallah planting new palm trees in the courtyard of the guest house in Palmyra
pencil, 29 x 21 cm.

06 Palmyra tek (2b)
The same man working in bthe courtyard of the guest house in Palmyra
pencil, 29 x 21 cm.

06 Palmyra tek (2c)
The same man working in the courtyard of the guest house in Palmyra
pencil, 29 x 21 cm.

07 Krak
KRAK DES CHEVALIERS
Restoration of the bastion of Qalawoun at the crusader's castle of Krak des Chevaliers
gouache and photoshop, 21 x 29 cm.

07 Krak tek (1)
Restoration of the bastion of Qalawoun at the Krak des Chevaliers
pencil, 29 x 21 cm.

07 Krak tek (1a)
Hazem Hannah, civil engineer, and Karim Bashour, stone mason, discussing the restoration of the bastion of Qalawoun at the Krak des Chevaliers
pencil, 29 x 21 cm.

07 Krak tek (2)
Edmond and 'the sign of Deschamps'
pencil 29 x 21 cm.

08 Amrit tek (1a)
AMRIT, TARTOUS
Eyad Ghanem, cleaning finds from the excavation of Amrit
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

08 Amrit tek (1b)
Eyad Ghanem, restoring finds from the excavation of Amrit, Tartous
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

08 Amrit tek (2a)
Excavation of Roman tombs in Amrit, Tartous
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.

09 Tartous (1)
TARTOUS
Restoring the medieval church and museum of Tartous
pencil, 29 x 21 cm.

09 Tartous (2)
Restoration of the medieval church and museum of Tartous
pencil, 29 x 21 cm.

10 Ugarit
RAS SHAMRA, LATAKIA
The partly overgrown excavation of Ugarit
gouache, 32,5 x 42,5 cm.

10 Ugarit tek
Friends Mohammed and Salah smoking a pipe
pencil, 21 x 29 cm.