My name is Khaled Dawwa, I’m a Syrian sculptor, and this morning outside the United Nations in Geneva, I destroyed my three-metre tall sculpture of a dictator figure ‘The King of Holes’ piece by piece. Survivors and families of people who are forcibly disappeared in Syria were with me, holding photos of their loved ones.
The destruction of the statue, today on International Day of the Disappeared, is a way of showing the fragility of the Assad regime and all systems built on injustices, violence, and oppression. It is a reminder that the prosecution of the regime and the release of all forcibly disappeared people must be the foundation of any political peace process in Syria.
Like many Syrians, I have firsthand experience of the Assad regime’s brutality. I was arbitrarily detained in 2013. When I was released it felt like a rebirth, but I carry with me a heavy question: what about the rest?
We are in Geneva to demand more progress to save our friends and loved ones. It’s been a year since the UN General Assembly promised to establish a new institution here to find out their fate, but not enough has been done so far. Please help add pressure by sending a message to your country’s UN representative – urging them to expedite the search for our disappeared loved ones in Syria
I first exhibited ‘The King of Holes’ in 2021 in Paris, where I now live, then deliberately left it to deteriorate naturally for two years in a public forest. I wanted to undermine the apparent solidity of this symbol of oppression. In that time, detentions and abductions have not ceased, with new arrests reported each month. In fact, time is running out to find our loved ones and tens of thousands have already been killed through torture or starvation.
This is sometimes forgotten, as the regime looks to reopen relations with other countries, under the false pretence that Syria is now safe. Finally destroying the artwork here in Geneva is a performance protest with survivors of detention and families of the detained and forcibly disappeared. I hope it will urge the UN to take concrete steps to uncover the truth about Syria’s disappeared people.
Dismantling the sculpture was a powerful moment: our minds focused on the nearly 157,000 people who have been arbitrarily detained or forcibly disappeared in Syria, snatched at checkpoints or from their homes and workplaces.
While I hope this action will draw attention to the immediate need to save and free Syria’s detainees, we are only likely to drive meaningful change if concerned citizens like you around the world take action. The formation of the UN Institution for Syria’s Missing People was a historic achievement for victims and survivors, but a whole year has passed and it must start delivering answers.
That’s why I’m asking for your support this International Day of the Disappeared, by writing a message to your country’s UN representative. UN member states have real power to pressure the regime, and the team at The Syria Campaign has built a tool that makes it simple to email them – so it should only take a minute or two to do.
One day, in a free and peaceful Syria, we will be able to rebuild an artwork that represents the final vision of this project: freedom and justice for everyone who has been forcibly disappeared. I look forward to sharing that work with you.
Thank you,
Khaled
P.S. You can see more photos from today’s art demonstration on The Syria Campaign’s Instagram page.