Damascus, (SANA) – A composite art piece titled "The End" is currently being displayed at Tekkiye Mosque, a collaborative piece made during a workshop organized by four of the teachers at Adham Ismail Plastic Arts Center.

The four teachers, Rim al-Khatib, Ismail Nasra, Iyas Uwaishik and Jihad Sauud, launched the contemporary arts workshop project at the center in August 2008 with the purpose of developing Syrian art, supporting artists of various ages, explore innovations in visual arts, and help build and develop a local experience.

The art piece takes the form of a large cube, with each of the four artists presenting their view of the subject of the end on one of its sides, with the hollow inside of the cube forming a dark room that the viewer can enter from a small opening to see phrases from the prophecies of Nostradamus written in fluorescent paint.

Director of the center Rim al-Khatib's vision of the end depicts the terror it would create among creatures, with flocks of birds in a random formation. She stressed the importance of this project, noting that artists had a chance to present bolder ideas but instead chose to express themselves with subtlety rather than shocking the audience, working as pure artists removed from the requirements of academia.

"Modern art poses intellectual issues, so we saw that the idea of death, life and continuation expresses humanity… we removed ourselves from troublesome details in an attempt to present intellect and philosophy in a way that adds value to artwork." Al-Khatib explained.

H. Sabbagh / Mazen