Creating a Syrian culture in exile: reconfigurations of engagement

By looking at different cultural initiatives of Syrian intellectuals and artists, especially in Beirut, Istanbul and Berlin, this chapter aims to show the diversity of engaged figures in the cultural and artistic fields. The revolution triggered a new desire to analyse and understand Syrian society, while forced exile due to war and political repression led to the creation of new networks and the reactivation of older sinks. The diversity of connections to the territories of exile and to Syria as well as the variety of trajectories of Syrian artists and intellectuals suggest a rethinking of the notion of the Syrian cultural scene through the prism of these circulations, often forced, which reconfigure forms of engagement. This study also discusses artistic themes and modes of expression of some young Syrian artists as they reflect new relationships to political commitment and cultural creation.