Syrian “Pages” in Istanbul
In the dark times
Will there also be singing?
Yes there will also be singing
About the dark times
(Bertolt Brecht, 1942)
Exile is like swallowing a bitter pill. Neither Batool Mohamad nor Samer al Kadri had an alternative but to leave Syria. Batool attended demonstrations actively; Samer’s publishing house was searched in Damascus. Both had to flee, Batool to Beirut, Samer with his family to Jordan first. In 2013 they moved to Turkey. Both are, like lots of other Dissidents, missing the stage of freedom that had started in 2011 as the start of the revolution in Syria, and was bludgeoned down with all the force the regime could mobilize in the past years.
The tremendous use of violence forced intellectuals out of the country. Batool Mohamad is a young actress and musician, a graduate from the High Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus. She is pushing her Career from Istanbul just starting with a role in a serial in Beirut now. Samer al Kadri studied Art; he is a painter and publisher. Pages is a bookstore, Café and cultural meeting point in the historical quarter of Balat. Samer al Kadri opened it with his wife. It is one of the central places of a rising Center in Istanbul for Arab Language, Literature, Arts, Culture and Politics.
Join for a walk through the Kadriye district around the Chora Church, where Pages is located.
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Tags: Batool Mohamad, Istanbul, Pages, Samer al Kadri, Syrian revolution
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