The “Safe Space” Association today inaugurated its new center in the Al-Abbara area of Aleppo, with a message of empowering youth and providing a space for creativity through an art exhibition featuring the work of twenty young men and women. They presented nearly thirty paintings ranging from Arabic calligraphy, portraits, abstract and realistic art, to cartoon characters.

The exhibition, which will continue until August 9, 2025, reflects the vision of the young association founded on January 4, 2025, shortly after the liberation of Aleppo. Maryam Karim, the association’s director, told SANA’s correspondent that the exhibition marks the beginning of “Safe Space” activities aimed at supporting, training, and empowering youth and women, especially talents that have not had sufficient opportunities to showcase their creativity.

Karim emphasized that the association does not limit its training to a specific age group but provides support in various fields including training, empowerment, qualification, and administrative, psychological, and professional awareness, aiming to create a safe environment that allows youth to freely express themselves, develop their skills, and help them achieve their goals.

Mehdi Askif, director of the organizational office at the association, indicated that the exhibition represents an actual launch of “Safe Space” activities aligned with its goals in awareness and support, currently focusing on youth and women with plans to expand to target children soon.

Askif revealed that the association, which includes media, organizational, monitoring, and evaluation teams relying on about 30 internal volunteers and more than 105 volunteers overall, has previously organized training for students, initiatives for women at the National Library, and awareness campaigns in primary schools. He announced future plans to offer free or symbolic training in “Training of Trainers” (TOT), communication skills, and ICDL certificates.

Artistically, diverse experiences emerged telling the story of youth determination. Young artist Yazan Hadari participated with a classical painting depicting a moment of supplication, using green as a symbol of hope, expressing his gratitude to the association for providing him and his colleagues the opportunity to showcase their talents belonging to the realistic school.

Student Fatima Al-Bakri (Chemistry major) presented a remarkable example of artistic passion through portrait paintings, starting her journey with pencil then charcoal, recently mastering the art of thread and nail drawing, a precise and difficult technique relying on controlling thread movement to create strong visual contrast between lit and shaded areas.

The artworks displayed at the exhibition received admiration from visitors. Dr. Ahed Murshaha, a lecturer at Aleppo University, described the paintings as professional and distinctive, considering the youth’s mastery of an art outside their academic specialization reflects clear passion and talent.