A German-Syrian artist, whose work about the conflict in Syria has caused controversy, is to unveil a new work in Scotland which will imagine life if the Ottoman Empire had thrived - and divided Europe.
Manaf Halboun's work Monument, saw three buses propped up vertically in front of the Frauenkirche church in Dresden, Germany just a week before the 72nd anniversary of the start of the infamous 1945 Allied air raids on the city.
The art work, drawing links between the destruction of Dresden and Aleppo, was revealed to turbulent scenes - with protesters and supporters jostling each other in a large crowd in the city centre.
Now Mr Halbouni is to work as an artist in residence in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, as part of the ongoing, award-winning work of
Deveron Projects.
His new work, What If? is to turn the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement - a secret deal between Britain and France dividing up spheres of influence in the Middle East - "on its head" in a work which will present a parallel history of Europe, in which the Ottoman Empire does not end in 1922.
The idea behind the work is: "What if it had been the Ottoman Empire / Arab world which had prevailed and it was Europe that had been divided up?"
The artist said: "My project reacts to a time when many people from the Arab-Middle Eastern world are confronted with conflicts resulting from the colonial and post-colonial era.
"Wars, conflicts and the resulting migration to Europe compel us to explore and explain our rarely questioned history.
"What If? also comes at a time when the idea of Europe is being called into question.
"After Brexit and the question of the role of Scotland in Europe, Huntly, with its own military history, offers an ideal background for a series of ‘What if?‘ scenarios."
As is common in other projects by artists in the north east town, Halbouni will work with the people of Huntly on the project, including refugees who have fled the conflict in Syria.
Halbouni, 32, born in Damascus to a Syrian father and a German mother, will begin his work in mid-March, and will take as its basis the 1916 agreement, which involved Britain and France, with the acknowledgement of Russia, who divided between them the lands dominated by the Ottoman Empire.
First working with period maps and later developing a performance, Halbouni will seek "to put us firmly in the shoes of Middle Eastern nations and ask us to see the world from the perspective of the colonised rather than the coloniser", a statement on behalf of Deveron Project said.
Clauda Zeiske, director of Deveron Projects, said: "We are delighted to welcome Manaf to Huntly particularly as our area has already welcomed many refugees from the conflict in Syria.
"The impact of the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement on the Middle East shouldn’t be underestimated.
"Manaf’s European-Syrian heritage not only gives him an innate understanding of issues currently facing the country in which he was brought up, but also of the wider implications of conflicts for the Middle East, Europe and beyond."
The artist added in a written description of the work: "For the past century borderlines have existed in the Middle East which were drawn by two diplomats in a secret deal.
"The Sykes-Picot Deal of 1916 is for the Islamic world a permanent insult by the western world and right up until today it has consequences on our relationship with the middle East.
"What if? is a parallel world with a different history line. How would it be if Europe as we as know it today did not exist?"
He adds: "The idea of the What If? project is to turn European history round: the colonizers become the colonized. The colonised become the colonisers."
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