WORKS FROM OUR GALLERY:
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Ammar Alnahhas – Syrian Artist who lives in Romania
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Turkish Carpets – Manually Created by Syrian Women Who Live in Two Refugee Camps in Turkey
The exhibition “From East to West” presented by Renaissance Art Gallery brings together the paintings of the Sirian artist Ammar Alnahhas, whose gorgeous colors are inspired by the colors of our country, Romania, the country where he lives since 2006 but also the wonderful Turkish carpets of Woven Legends www.wovenlegends.com manually created following ancient rediscovered models and presented in museums and galleries around the world.
The carpets presented in the gallery were created by Anka Cooperative www.ankacoop.org, a social company that in association with Woven Legends, helps refugee women in Turkey by teaching them the art of carpet tissue and committing them to create these carpets in order to give a purpose to these women who had to leave their motherland because of the war.
ANKA in Turkish | ANQA in Arabic (عنقاء)
“Anka” means the “Phoenix” Bird, an ancient mystic bird, which gets a new life ascending from the ashes of her ancestors. This legendary PHOEIX-ANKA motif has been used on the carpets of the region, inspiration coming from a sketch made by a Syrian refugee, symbolizing the hope that out of the ashes of war will come a better life for them.
We are delighted to communicate the success of the Vernissage Friday evening, November 17th 2017, a deeply planned event to offer
- The sensuality of Scheherazade’s stories
- With references to Romanian history and to her rulers who were art lovers:
Constantin Brancoveanu – Prince of Walachia, the country that during his reign experienced a long period of peace, cultural flourishing and development of spiritual life, leaving a large number of religious foundations and an eclectic architectural style that has his name in present days
and
Dimitrie Cantemir – Prince of Moldavia, who was an encyclopedist, ethnographer, geographer, philosopher, historian, linguist, musicologist and composer.
- An event that wanted to delight all the 5 human senses:
SIGHT – Ammar’s gorgeous paintings and Woven Legends carpets,
HEARING – sublime Byzantine music composed by Dimitrie Cantemir and played on several musical instruments by Syrian artists Feras Sarmini and Noma Shkeir
TOUCH – gorgeous wool carpets,
SMELL – XERJO perfumes presented by OBSENTUM
and
TASTE – BRANCOVEANU cognac thanks to ALEXANDRION, cognac whose motto is “worship the cup in peace and harmony” and the sublime food prepared by Ammar and his cousin at an event that wanted to highlight the PEACE topic and the luck of living in peacetime but also the duty to contribute to the help of those who had to flee their country because of the devastating war.
All these were possible by:
– the presentation of Ammar’s paintings, but also because of the time I spent with Ammar, from whom I learned during this period how much the Syrians are attached to their country, their habits, families, but also how adaptable they are and how much they appreciate Romania which they consider their second country;
– the presentation of 10 Turkish / Anatolian, Persian, Chinese wool rugs painted with natural pigments, handmade by Syrian refugee women living in two refugee camps in Turkey, Sanliurfa and Adiyaman, but also listening to the story of this project told by Joshua Burke and Neslihan Jevremovic, two large-minded Americans involved in this project.
Neslihan, born in Turkey, is the patron of the Woven Legends company located in America and for 30 years produces quality carpets with innovative methods but respecting the old techniques. From 2011, the Anka project, which refers to an ancient bird that is re-emerging from the ashes of its ancestors, has taught young Syrian refugees to weave carpets, giving hope and dignity to hundreds of refugees who do not have a permanent shelter, but more important offering them jobs and the possibility of a better future.
More information about Neslihan can be found here.
Buying one of the 10 carpets presented at the Renaissance Art Gallery helps Anka Coop to pay a salary to one or more Syrian refugees.
For any information regarding the works or the carpets from the gallery, you can contact us at: oana@renaissance-artgallery.com sau la +40 722 381 325.