My home is the centre of the world
'On April 17th we all woke up at 7am, completely crazy from the heavy bombing that was rocking our building like an earthquake. Many times, one after the other… we heard the neighbour’s wife screaming, but the neighbour’s noisy children were silent for the first time, with fear.
At about 9.54am the war was still going on. I came out to the balcony many times to try to see and understand what was going on, but a heavy smoke covered everything around us, so I started calling my friends who have a good view on the war area, but like me none of them could see a thing because of the smoke.
So the only thing to do was to wait and finally see at a short distance, on our horizon, who would be the first warrior coming in our direction, a jihadi from Al Nousra? Or the Syrian Army?
Amongst all this, one of my old neighbours Em Abdo (she’s around 70) was running around the war zone, from one street to another, I even saw her on the rooftop of the building next to us, trying to get a glimpse of her home, to see if it was still in one piece – she left her home three years ago, with me...
When I asked her to get back inside into safety, she turned to me and replied, ‘I would like to come back to my home, even if it will be destroyed, my home is the centre of the world.’
ISSA TOUMA
Aleppo, Syria
18 April 2014 at 1:56am
Issa Touma is a self-taught photographer. In 1992, he established the first photography gallery in the Middle East, Black and White Gallery. He is the founder and director of the annual Aleppo International Photo Festival and the International Women’s Art Festival.
In 2012, Issa Touma co-founded Art Camping, a peaceful movement running week-long workshops for young refugees displaced by the Civil War. The aim is to help them develop their creativity and imagination and, through them, to bring a little hope and happiness to the wider society.
He believes it is necessary to hold on to a culture of peace in a time of war, to make a victory for art, for culture and for life.
Issa’s home was destroyed during the conflict, forcing him to find another place to live. He has chosen not to leave Aleppo and continues to live in the area of the city most affected by the war.
In 2012, Issa Touma co-founded Art Camping, a peaceful movement running week-long workshops for young refugees displaced by the Civil War. The aim is to help them develop their creativity and imagination and, through them, to bring a little hope and happiness to the wider society.
He believes it is necessary to hold on to a culture of peace in a time of war, to make a victory for art, for culture and for life.
Issa’s home was destroyed during the conflict, forcing him to find another place to live. He has chosen not to leave Aleppo and continues to live in the area of the city most affected by the war.
Some images of the devastation in Syria
