On April 15, the anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s birth, the world celebrates World Art Day to promote the links between creativity and society.
While UNESCO’s 2025 reports indicate that the cultural sector faces unprecedented challenges in conflict zones, the Syrian Future Movement believes that Syrian art is not merely an aesthetic activity, but a tool for “civil resistance” and a necessity for rebuilding the Syrian individual, who has suffered a violent identity crisis over the past decade.
The Syrian Future Movement emphasizes that art is a matter of “national security” par excellence. Given international reports indicating that more than 120 cultural centers and theaters in Syria have been damaged or destroyed, restoring these institutions becomes a top priority during the transitional phase to prevent the exploitation of the cultural vacuum by extremist and exclusionary movements that thrive on the absence of aesthetic thought.
The Syrian Future Movement emphasizes the necessity of linking creativity with psychological recovery. According to estimates by the World Health Organization, more than 25% of Syrians suffer from conflict-related psychological disorders. This underscores the importance of art therapy as a mandatory specialized track in schools and community centers, not as an artistic luxury, but as a scientific mechanism for repairing psychological and social damage, while respecting the religious sensitivities of some Syrians.
The Syrian Future Movement believes that protecting visual and artistic heritage is a sovereign battle against the systematic looting and plundering of Syrian antiquities and artworks. We call for the establishment of a National Arts Observatory to document and archive Syrian artistic production both within Syria and in the diaspora, as a safeguard against attempts to falsify history or erase the unifying national identity.
The Syrian Future Movement calls for transforming art from a “hobby” into an “economic industry” capable of absorbing youth unemployment. International experiences have proven that investment in design, cinema, and traditional Syrian crafts can generate returns that contribute up to 3% to the GDP, provided there is legislation protecting intellectual property and supporting independent production.
The Syrian Future Movement believes that artistic freedom of expression is the true “thermometer” of the success of the transitional phase. There can be no democracy without critical and independent art. We emphasize the need to abolish all forms of ideological censorship that have for years transformed art into a tool of political propaganda, while working to release and honor artists who have paid the price for their humanitarian stances.
The Syrian Future Movement is committed to supporting the “art of the Syrian diaspora” and connecting it with the homeland. It considers the thousands of Syrian artists abroad to be “diplomatic battalions” capable of reshaping Syria’s cultural image on the international stage, and their expertise should be utilized in formulating cultural policies for the reconstruction phase.
The Syrian Future Movement believes that the same pen with which the dreams of children in the camps are drawn will draw the map of the new Syria: a state of justice, goodness, and beauty.
