Syrian Arab Republic 2026

Title: The Tower Tomb of Palmira
Commissioner: Waseem Abd Alhameed Director of Fine Arts at the Syrian Ministry of Culture
Curator: Yuko Hasegawa
Exhibitor: Sara Shamma

This Pavilion marks a new chapter in the country’s international cultural engagement following the Syrian War (2011–2024). Moving away from previous group presentations, this edition focuses on a single Syrian artist to reaffirm the country’s presence in the global contemporary art landscape.

The exhibition combines painting, architecture, light, sound, and scent to explore Syria’s cultural heritage and the diverse histories of Palmyra. It features a large-scale immersive installation inspired by the ancient funerary towers of Palmyra, which historically served as a crossroads for Greco-Roman, Aramaic, and Arab cultures. These monumental family mausoleums, built between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, were destroyed during the war, with hundreds of funerary portraits looted and sold abroad.

The presentation serves as both a reflection on cultural loss and an advocacy for the restitution of looted antiquities. By invoking the memory of the destroyed towers, the work explores universal themes of resilience, memory, and the importance of protecting shared heritage.