Reflect and share:
1. Find an important personal story/history/event that you want to share with us
A few years before the war, my family and I spent the summer in Syria. I had been there once before, but that time I was six, and too young to understand the significance of it. At the age of twelve, however, the experience was very different. It was like I had found a whole part of me I hadn’t known existed. I fell in love with the city of Aleppo, and I discovered parts of my heritage I had never known before. Being the child of immigrants growing up in America, much of my understanding of my family history began after my parents came to America. Most of my classmates seemed to have family records that went far back into American history, family that fought in the world wars, family with mixed European backgrounds. Going to Syria, I realized that I did have history in my heritage and that it was ancient. There was a whole narrative history of things I realized I wouldn’t be taught in school, because middle eastern history is often overlooked in the west.
2. What "snapshots" can you find to describe this personal story/history/event?
I have pictures with family members I don’t remember very well, as well as ones I remember very clearly. I also have memory of how certain places looked and felt, what it was like to walk through Aleppo, one of the oldest cities in the world with some ancient architecture. I remember walking through the Citadel of Aleppo, which was first built in the 3rdmillennium BC. It is where my last name comes from.
3. What "artifacts" can you find to fill out the gaps left by the snapshots in this personal story/history/event?
I have some jewelry pieces made for me by my cousin who is an artist. He engraves metal tableware and jewelry with beautiful designs, and he paints calligraphy. Going to his studio as a child is part of what inspired me to be an artist. I also have mosaic boxes from there that remind me of my roots, as well as the Islamic art that I draw a lot of inspiration from.
4. How would you associate this personal story/history/event with other people or even the society?
It’s sad to think about the war in Syria. I have not been there since the war began, and I’m not sure I want to replace my memories of the city Aleppo with new memories of how some of the destroyed architecture looks. I still have family in Syria, but many have fled to countries all over the world.
5. Please create one visual metaphor to summarize your reflection on the above questions. (You can choose any visual forms and approaches to make the metaphor.)
For my visual metaphor, I chose a painting of Aleppo from the sixteenth century. I chose this piece to represent memory, history and heritage. The colors are vibrant and dream-like, which represents my romanticized memories of the city.
The other visual metaphor I chose is a picture of Viestenz-Smith Mountain Park, which was greatly damaged in the floods in Colorado in 2013. This was somewhere my family used to go every summer to have picnics with friends and enjoy being in the beautiful mountains. After the flood, it was closed for years, until they were able to rebuild it. This picture is from when it was damaged. I recently went back to Smith park, but they have completely changed it, it’s not recognizable from what it once was. Even the river seems to flow in a different place. This represents change, memory, and my Colorado upbringing/childhood. Seeing the beautiful Colorado landscape is something I never take for granted.
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