Banan
On Saturday 3rd July 2021, young girl Banan al Asi was killed, along with her brothers Ibrahim and Saed, her father Subhi and her mother Suad. Banan's two child siblings Sindus and Youssef survived. The family were targeted by a laser-guided missile —launched by Russian and Syrian regime forces— that struck their home in a rural part of northwest Syria. Banan's father was a medical worker and volunteer with a local relief organisation for internally displaced people.
This massacre is but one in a pattern of atrocity crimes committed by Russian and Syrian regime forces that have specifically targeted children and humanitarian workers throughout Syria since 2011. Attacks such as these— intended to demoralise a population and to eradicate their means of survival —constitute part of a campaign of premeditated extermination. Printed as translucent image and text on acetate, this postcard of Banan interacts with the available light of its environment, allowing for her image to project onto surfaces of unsuspected places and in transient moments. The image functions as a silent memory of her innocence and life, whilst the accompanying text informs its observer of her story and of who was responsible for committing the atrocity against her.
Artist Bio
HAMAD Mario
Mario Hamad is an artist-filmmaker, academic and scholar-practitioner in militant cinema and activist video, with research specialism in the study of 21st century genocide. His professional skills include the direction, cinematography, photography and post production of fashion film, music video and experimental/artist film, including audio-visual installation.
