The Damascus Foundation for Culture and Thought and its role in formulating a new cultural and social contract in Syria

On August 1, 2025, the Syrian Ministry of Culture received a delegation representing the Damascus Foundation for Culture, Thought, Arts, and Development, marking a preliminary step toward relocating the foundation’s activities from abroad to Syria.
The foundation was founded in Cairo on April 15, 2012, and its cultural voice accompanied the Syrian revolution, defending freedom of expression and civil and national identity.

The Scientific Bureau of the Syrian Future Movement is following this return with deep interest, considering it a strategic shift in the regeneration of the Syrian cultural sphere, moving away from symbolic monopoly and authoritarian discourse. Furthermore, the announcement of the foundation’s official establishment within Syria, after previously registering it as a non-profit organization in Germany and the European Union, opens the door to formulating a “new social cultural contract” befitting post-conflict Syria.

From this standpoint, we emphasize the following principles:

1. The independence of the cultural foundation in its vision, funding, and practice is a prerequisite for ensuring its credibility and effectiveness in expressing society, not the authorities.
2. The pluralism of the Syrian cultural narrative is a fundamental requirement; Culture is not an administrative extension of the state, but rather a space for expression and interaction, encompassing all societal components and sub-identities.
3. Conditional partnership with the state must be driven by the principle of respect for independence, not symbolic hegemony or the reproduction of previous tools of control.
4. The documentary responsibility of cultural institutions requires preserving the memory of the revolution and social transformation, avoiding erasure or rewriting history according to narrow political interests.

The Syrian Future Movement views the return of the Damascus Foundation as a first step, but it is a true test of the state and society’s ability to establish an independent, pluralistic cultural space that advances Syria toward the values of citizenship, justice, and innovation. From our position in the Syrian Future Movement, we work politically and intellectually to support this approach and provide the necessary conditions for its success.