HUNTLY.- German-Syrian artist, Manaf Halbouni, whose controversial “Monument” artwork was unveiled in Dresden earlier this month is to undertake an artist residency and make new work in the UK inspired by the conflict in Syria.

Halbouni has been invited by arts organisation Deveron Projects to come to Huntly in North East Scotland where he will spend 3 months working with a community that includes refugees who have fled the conflict in Syria.

32-year old Halbouni was born in Damascus to a Syrian father and German mother who had met whilst the former was studying architecture at Dresden University. Halbouni has studied at the art school in Damascus and has been based in Germany – at the Dresden school of Fine Art - since 2009.

The starting point for Halbouni’s UK residency, which will begin in mid March, is the Sykes-Picot Agreement: the secret agreement made in 1916 which saw the old Ottoman Empire carved by Britain and France with the tacit support of the then Russian Empire. The agreement is frequently cited as having created artificial borders in the Middle East without any regard to ethnic or sectarian characteristics, and many see this as being as contributiing to the seemingly endless conflict in the region.

Initially working with period maps and later developing a performative piece, Halbouni will seek to put us firmly in the shoes of Middle Eastern nations and ask us to see the world from the perspective of the colonised rather than the coloniser. A presentation of the work is scheduled for the weekend of 3rd June. For further details of the project see Notes for Editors

“We are delighted to welcome Manaf to Huntly,” says Deveron Projects director, Claudia Zeiske, “particularly as our area has already welcomed many refugees from the conflict in Syria.”

“The impact of the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement on the Middle East shouldn’t be underestimated. Manaf’s European-Syrian heritage not only gives him an innate understanding of issues currently facing the country in which he was brought up, but also of the wider implications of conflicts for the Middle East, Europe and beyond.”

In his project What If? Halbouni will turn the tables on the original Sykes-Picot Agreement. What if it had been the Ottoman Empire / Arab world which had prevailed and it was Europe that had been divided up?

“My project reacts to a time when many people from the Arab - Middle Eastern world are confronted with conflicts resulting from the colonial and post-colonial era,” adds Manaf. “Wars, conflicts and the resulting migration to Europe compel us to explore and explain our rarely questioned history.”

“What If? also comes at a time when the idea of Europe is being called into question. After Brexit and the question of the role of Scotland in Europe, Huntly (with its own military history) offers an ideal background for a series of ‘What if?‘ scenarios.”