This year, the rapid and unexpected spread of COVID-19 has affected every detail of our contemporary life, challenging everything we thought of as stable, continuous, and unchangeable. While people all around the world have sought to unite in the face of a hidden common “enemy,” the viral emergency has also strengthened a sense of profound crisis in our social and political systems. In the long run, the social, cultural, economic, and political challenges arising from physical distancing are likely to have a more substantial impact on society than the temporary presence of the virus. For even if we manage to beat the invisible enemy, nothing in our lives will go back to what and how it was.

If the current crisis has revealed essential flaws in our systems, what is and has been happening is more than just a test of our defence readiness - it is an opportunity to fundamentally question who we are and where we are going. The crucial question should neither be about what we need to remain alive nor about how to reorganise life following the crisis. Instead, it should concern our collective cultural and moral values and our ability to express them. Artists and cultural producers play a critical role in providing alternative spaces, which are cornerstones in navigating the ongoing transformations of a crisis. Indeed, culture is the essence of who we are as human beings: it establishes our collective social lives, binds us together, and nurtures our sense of belonging beyond borders. Without a blatant recognition of the urgent need for the cultural dimension, it is difficult to envision the future as a joint endeavour of human civilization.

The 16 posters that are part of the Through Solidarity, We Survive initiative stem from two separate sources: 14 are from the initiative’s open call for Syrian artists in diaspora to create a dialogue-based artwork reacting to the pandemic, and the remaining two are made by artists participating in the Fine Arts Artist Training Program for Artistic Collectives by the UdK Berlin Career College.

The participating artists are: Ala' Hamameh, Ammar Hatem, Ammar Khattab, Diala Brisly, Fadi Aljabour, Fahed Halabi, Michael Daoud, Nada Ali, Nagham Hamoush, Nour Safadi, Razan Sabbagh, Ruba Salameh, Tamer Mallak, Yaser Kassab, Yerevan Hassan, and Zena El Abdalla.

As part of the initiative, all the artists were offered a one to one mentoring session with Sarah Boris, a graphic designer who has worked with organisations such as Phaidon, ICA, the Barbican and the Tate, to further develop their posters.

Read what the press wrote about Through Solidarity, We Survive:

Here's a selection of images from the Berlin City Campaign showing the Through Solidarity, We Survive posters all around Berlin.