The video installation Damascus was created in the context of my periodic return to Syria in recent years. My family situation forced me to deal with everyday life in a country at war. The room is empty and darkened, the white screen hovers over the heads of the spectators, the sound echoes through the sterility – the video collage and the sound have an uninhibited effect on the visitors. Fragments of the experience. Short sequences, shot in 2017 and 2018, show life in Damascus between everyday life, fear and peace – they capture the banality and absurdity of war. Even in war, life goes on: a concert, a reading evening, an explosion – no reaction from the people. The events leave me distraught at first, and yet I become part of them. We are paralyzed by the long years of war. No bodies or blood are to be seen in the collages and only the sound transports the fear and terror. My powerlessness remains untouched. The camera creates a distance between me and everyday life and thus allows me to observe what is happening. N.A.