During peace talks in Geneva in February 2017, Syrians hold images of loved ones disappeared by Syrian government forces over the course of the six-year war. Dylan Collins
Since the start of the conflict in Syria, the Museum has been sounding the alarm for policymakers and the public about atrocities being committed by the Assad regime. As part of its campaign of violence, the Syrian government has detained more than 100,000 of its own citizens. In many cases, the government has refused to release their names. Families of the missing do not know whether loved ones are alive or dead.
One survivor of detention and torture, Mansour Omari, recently entrusted us with evidence of those crimes, which will be on display in Syria: Please Don’t Forget Us, a new exhibition in the Wexner Center, on the Museum’s second floor.
While in prison, Mansour and his fellow prisoners wrote their names on five scraps of fabric in an ink made of rust and their own blood. When Mansour was released, he wore a shirt with these pieces of fabric sewn inside so he could inform his cellmates’ families about what had happened to them. He has loaned the fabric to the Museum for preservation and public display.
Using video, music, and testimony, Syria: Please Don’t Forget Us introduces visitors to the victims of a faraway conflict through one man’s story. The exhibition will be open every day during the Museum’s operating hours.
Location
The Wexner Center, second floor. No passes required.
Exhibition open through February 2, 2020.