He learnt from his father to expose the familial tragedy

HAMID AL-ALI/AL-RAQQA

16-year-old Haidar Jumaa al-Hamo was born and raised in the city of AL-Raqqa in a simple family that loves sculpture and painting. He started his artistic career since he was six years old after his family discovered their son's talent in sculpture and drawing.

At the beginning of his artistic career, Haidar was following his father, Jumaa al-Hamo, in some of his artworks related to sculpture and drawing, and his father encouraged him to continue his artistic career.

Simple tools work

Haidar and his father Jumaa use simple tools in their art and paint them as "ceramics, black stone, cork and some oil colors." Their creativity is characterized by "directness," which is what is called in "plastic" art.

Carving on refrigerator’s door, he expressed the battles of al-Raqqa

Jumaa al-Hamo and his son, Haydar, sculpted on the door of the refrigerator, describing the destroyed buildings as a result of the battles that took place in the city of al-Raqqa since the beginning of the Syrian crisis. The buildings are destroyed and one of the shells enters the buildings, in addition to the booby-trapped vehicles used by mercenaries.

Haidar considers the paintings and carvings as part of himself. He has many sculptures and drawings, including the ones he has been imagining and working to make with his father's help, including sculptures in the form of animals, such as human and archaeological sites.

Haidar's participation abroad and the Syrian interior

Haidar participated in an exhibition in Saudi Arabia, where he went with his family to work there at the age of six years old. He participated in the exhibition in one panel through which he expressed the suffering of the people of Gaza.

He also participated in the exhibitions of the Cultural Center in Raqqa and the exhibition of artist Taha Taha in Raqqa during the days of the entry of the so-called "free army" and occupation of the city.

The family is threatened

The family of Jumah al-Hamo was threatened by the mercenaries of Jabhit al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham and Daesh, because of his profession in the carving and drawing, and accused him several times of manufacturing idols.

Paintings illustrating al-Raqqa antiquities, figures, and women

Haidar and his father sculpted several sculptures, including the old Baghdad Gate in Raqqa, built during the reign of Harun al-Rashid, a woman sitting on the side of the door, and a sculpture of the late artist Hassan Hamdan, painted by Haidar's father in 2005.

Haidar's drawings also included the escape of mercenaries from a black-dressed mercenary and a painting depicting the destruction of one of his city's neighborhoods. Another was the sculpture of a free woman's Cleopatra and sculptures representing the goddess of fertility and beauty of women.

"I am very pleased with sculpture and painting and I will try to show the customs, traditions and culture of my city and all the oppressed peoples that have tasted the woes in the shadow of the Syrian crisis. I will work to show the suffering of the people of al-Raqqa through sculptures and drawings.

The artist and sculptor Jumaa Saied al-Hamo, the father of the child, said, "I began working on sculpture and painting in 1984. I found Haidar into sculpting, so I encouraged him, but we faced many hardships in the city of Raqqa and was threatened by mercenary groups."

Al-Hamo pointed out that mercenary gangs looted all his sculptural handicrafts, which revolve around the culture of his country and his heritage, and the customs and traditions of his family, on the pretext that they are idols, and then I received news that my work had arrived in Turkey and sold there.

Jumaa al-Hamo appealed to all the artists who left their city to return to it and return their stolen culture.

J.O

ANHA