The uprising that redirected the energy and orientations of a whole generation of Syrians, has stolen artist Mustafa Yaaqoub from his academic major in electrical and electronic engineering, and paved the way for a talent rooted deep down his soul: artistic design.
Inspired by the uprising, the artist designed his first picture as events began to escalate in the city of Homs. The picture of two renowned figures in the uprising, belonging to different religious sects, who led hand-in-hand several demonstrations in Homs, was a symbol of national unity in Syria and had earned a great reputation, after being the cover of a program discussing Syrian art on Al-Jazeera.
This sudden fame prompted Yaaqoub to create his own Facebook page titled Havoc Art, to publish his works, a form of digital art called “photo manipulation”. Recently, the artist took up graphic design to design logos and campaign posters, including the “Chemical Massacre”, “Last Call from the Besieged Homs” and “Stop Polio in Syria”.
According to Mustafa Yaaqoub, art is not merely an expression of the pain he perceives, nor an activity that secures him a place within the uprising, but rather a remedy and a let out of the artist's own grief and anxiety to the carnage taking place in Syria, “Ultimately, portraying the truth about Syria is a personal need and a duty at the same time,” the artist says.
In order to sufficiently perform this duty, Yaaqoub participated in multiple art exhibitions in Italy, Turkey, Britain, Germany, Greece and the US. Additionally, “Anonymous Art of Revolution”, a widely-known Facebook page, has shared one of the artist's designs, a man climbing a long ladder to freedom.
The artist who currently resides in Frankfurt, Germany, aspires to study art professionally in Germany, in the hope of empowering the voice of the Syrian uprising through his photos and delivering it to Western communities.
The artist longs for the uprising's early beginnings when "each and every anti-regime activist felt like a superhero," as he describes it. He is counting the days for the war and bloodshed to end in Syria, and for him to return to his homeland and open his own gallery.
