Forgotten City – Deir Ezzor

The exhibition presents Hayyan Al-Yousouf’s photographs and film recordings of Deir Ezzor, the largest city in eastern Syria. Al-Yousouf (b. 1980), who holds a degree as an agricultural engineer, documented everyday life in his hometown from 2011–14, while militias of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) fought against government troops. Peaceful protests triggered these fights with which the people of Deir Ezzor had opposed the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in 2011. In the interim, parts of the city are now occupied by the so-called Islamic State. The armed conflicts have claimed a great number of victims, including the civilian population. Much of Deir Ezzor has been destroyed and it is cut off from resources to a great extent. Many of the city’s residents have fled, becoming refugees.

Through his images, Hayyan Al-Yousouf reveals a side of the war in Syria that is largely unknown in Europe. By 2011 he had already founded the network “Deir Ezzor Coordination” along with several photojournalists; a group that made it its task to document violence and violations of human rights to which the Syrian population was and continues to be exposed. This work led to Hayyan Al-Yousouf’s arrest. Together with three friends, he later fled to Germany via the “Balkan route” in 2014.
The exhibition is augmented by an additional photographic point of view. While Al-Yousouf was seeking political asylum in Germany, the photojournalist Ann-Christine Jansson documented his experiences in a photo series titled Hayyan Waiting.

Free admission.