São Paulo – An initiative that arose as a legacy of the world exhibition Expo 2020 Dubai plans on using the promotion of Syrian art across the world as a way to help children in the Arab country. The project, led by Brazil’s Claudia Abbas and featuring international supports, will sell t-shirts printed with paintings by Syrian artists that were exhibited in Syria Pavilion at Expo 2020, thus generating funds for agencies that assist children in the country. The idea will start being implemented in Brazil, where Abbas is now seeking a trade partner to manufacture and sell the t-shirts.
Abbas is the wife of Ghassan Abbas, the Syrian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. The diplomat was the commissioner-general of the Syria Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, and his wife helped setting up the space. One of the attractions of the pavilion was the art show “I Am Syrian”, featuring 52 paintings where Syrian artists painted the faces of Syrians to convey the message, “What unites us is much more than what divides us.” The project resulted in a gallery with pieces of harmonious sizes and shades and helped Syria win the Golden Award for theme interpretation, an award given to the pavilion that best embodied the theme of “Connecting Minds, Creating Future.”
Abbas said the idea for the t-shirt campaign came from the team of the pavilion during the visit of a group of Brazilian women. At Expo 2020, some t-shirts had already been stamp-printed with art works that were exhibited in the pavilion. After the exhibition, the idea has grown with the purpose of becoming a legacy. As a Syrian Brazilian woman, Claudia Abbas contemplated launching the project in Brazil. “The Brazilian people is very supportive, and the Arab Syrian community is huge in Brazil,” she said in an interview with ANBA.
Claudia Abbas is a professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Brasília (UnB), and an art lover and collector. She holds a degree in Computer Science from the Catholic University of Brasília, a master’s degree in the same field from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, and a PhD in Telecommunications Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madri, Spain. She is currently on leave from UnB to accompany her husband on the diplomatic mission to the UAE. She is also part of the Dubai branch of the Women of Brazil Group.
Although the idea arose in the Syria Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, the campaign is not related to Syria’s Embassy in the UAE. The Women of Brazil Group is one of the partners of the t-shirt campaign, together with Syria’s Red Crescent (known as Red Cross in Brazil), which will be responsible for taking the funds from the initiative to institutions assisting children with cancer and special needs. The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) is offering promotional support to the project through its women’s committee Wahi – Women Who Inspire. “Large partners will promote this project,” Abbas said.
Art and solidarity
Abbas wants the t-shirts to be basic and more affordable so that more people can participate. Each piece will be printed with an artwork with its name and a QR Code that leads to information on the artist. “Syrian artists are little known in Brazil and elsewhere,” Abbas said, adding that visitors at Expo 2020 were amazed by the paintings. “The idea is promoting these contemporary Syrian artists that make these wonderful artworks and are still widely unknown,” she said. There’s a possibility that t-shirts could be launched in different seasons and the initiative could eventually include other products like plate or cup collections.
Abbas talked with ANBA before the earthquake that hit Syria earlier this week. She believes the t-shirt campaign will engage the Arab and Arab descendant community that lives in Brazil, particularly form Syria, but also Brazilians in general. “Brazilians really like to help,” she said. The tragedy of the earthquake caused a commotion across the world, including in Brazil, and the international community has worked to bring aid to the Syrians.
Campaign Details:
dubai@grupomulheresdobrasil.org.br
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
