Women We Have Not Lost Yet

Now in its fifth year, the Syrian conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and left half of the population displaced. Aleppo, the largest metropolis in the country and one of the oldest human settlements in the world, is at risk of disappearing. Ongoing battles between government forces, opposition rebels and radical Islamist militants have severely damaged the city’s architectural fabric and will soon destroy what remains of its essence as a centre of intellectual activity and cross-cultural dialogue. The original number of inhabitants has shrunk from 2.7 million to an estimated 1.2 million in the Assad-controlled western zone and 500,000 in the east. Issa Touma, a photographer, cultural animator and founder of Le Pont gallery, has devoted himself
 to preserving Aleppo’s urban culture. In 2012, he initiated Art Camping. A collaborative program in the form of workshops, it attempts to counter
the violence of the conflict by encouraging young people from various religious and ethnic backgrounds to express themselves through art and culture. "Women We Have Not Lost Yet and Other Stories from Aleppo" portrays 15 young women who took refuge in Le Pont gallery during the ‘Great Attack’ by radical Islamists in April 2015. The stories, recorded by Touma on video and in photographs, are a cry for freedom from the women Syria has not lost yet – to death, exile or oppression. Revenues from the sale of the book, which was realized with the generous support of various partners, will be shared with Art Camping. Click here to buy the book: http://ydocfoundation.org/women-we-have-not-lost-yet/