Syrian artist destroys statue outside UN in political message

By AFP
August 31, 2024
Syrian exiled sculptor Khaled Dawwa (top) with the help of relatives of people who disappeared in Syria, destroy his giant art work The King of Holes, depicting a potentate with a massive body, as part of a protest on the occasion of International Day of the Disappeared, in front of the United Nations offices in Geneva. – AFP/file
Syrian exiled sculptor Khaled Dawwa (top) with the help of relatives of people who disappeared in Syria, destroy his giant art work The King of Holes, depicting a potentate with a massive body, as part of a protest on the occasion of International Day of the Disappeared, in front of the United Nations offices in Geneva. – AFP/file 

GENEVA: Syrian sculptor Khaled Dawwa on Friday destroyed his giant artwork outside the United Nations office in Geneva to denounce tens of thousands of enforced disappearances in Syria.

Using saws and hammers, relatives of disappeared Syrians helped the artist break apart the wood, plaster and foam statue on the International Day of the Disappeared.

“We are here to protest against the system, to say, ´enough´. We have a right to know the truth,” the 39-year-old sculptor, who lives in exile in France, told AFP.

Dawwa´s 3.5 metre-high colossus, “The King of Holes”, depicted a potentate with a massive body, reflecting the artist´s condemnation of oppressive power, before it was thrashed to pieces.