Artist in Syria’s Kobani makes mosaic art despite all odds
Mosaic art piece by artist Farouq Ibo in his house in Kobani, northern Syria – North Press
By Fayyad Muhammed/Fatima Khaled
KOBANI, Syria (North Press) – Since early childhood, captured heart and soul by making mosaic art pieces, Farouq spends most of his time in a small room in his house allocated specially for this hobby.
Farouq Ibo, a resident from Kobani, northern Syria, tells the story of how he began creating mosaic art pieces, and how he continued to practice this hobby, despite all dire circumstances that he and his region went through.
In the fall of 2014, ISIS launched a war on the city of Kobani and took control of the entire countryside and a large area of the city. The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), supported by the US air forces managed to defeat ISIS militarily in January 2015.
Abdo started learning as a child on the hands of a Christian man in Lebanon, where he and his family used to live. Since then, his passion increased and he got attached to the stones that allowed him to express his feelings through these pieces of art.
Mosaic is an art and craft of making small cubes and pieces assembled in colorful designs used to decorate and adorn walls and floors by installing them with tiles on smooth surfaces, using materials such as stones, metals, glass and seashells.
Farouq sees creating this form of art with colored stones as a profession and a source of income as well, besides being a passion. He believes this profession connects the present with the past, because of its ancient and rich history in civilizations.
“They are art pieces of endless beauty,” he said.
Suffering and harsh circumstances did not prevent his passion of making mosaic pieces, but rather increased his attachment. He continued his path with the simplest tools and equipment.
“Mosaic pieces are made with colored stones which are distributed in certain areas, and each area specializes in a specific color,” he told North Press.
However, the war, the events that occurred in the region with various controlling power seizing different areas and the closure of crossings made it difficult for him to secure the needed stones.
He goes to the nearby mountains in his city to find the stones needed for making the pieces. “Although they are not enough sometimes but I with what I have,” he said.
He cuts the stones into cubes, and he glues them together by hand to form artistic and geometric designs that are used to decorate walls and floors.
The artist gets a sense of satisfactions and happiness when he finishes an art piece. He recalls the first art piece he did in 1998, which was a colorful fish.
Ibo does not have the capabilities of setting up an exhibition for his pieces, so he puts them in his room waiting for someone to order a piece. His love and passion for making art pieces with stones pushed him to teach his children the basics of mosaic art so it would not be forgotten.