Al-Saa’i’s newest work sees a sharp new trajectory in the form and content of his practice, with the inclusion of mixed media collage and layering, alongside non-Arabic script, such as Chinese characters and English letters. He has also forayed into the world of calligraffiti, a combination of calligraphy with graffiti that has been gaining attention recently within the Middle East as a fresh, new way to work with traditional forms. Al-Saa’i layers cut outs from newspapers and magazines beneath complex swathes of calligraphy, seemingly innocuous media clippings until closer inspection reveals many of them to be people. They are, in fact, crowds of protestors, reflecting the dissent and revolution that has been sweeping across the Middle East, and, most poignantly of all, tearing apart the artist’s native country. For Al-Saa’i, Memory of a City encompasses all cities in Syria, but most predominantly that of its capital, Damascus, where he spent his formative years. These protestors become letters in themselves, a united voice crying out for dignity and freedom, as well as the ultimate destiny of Syria, which hangs in the balance.

Born in Homs, Syria in 1970, Al-Saa’i grew up in a household surrounded by painting, music and calligraphy. By the age of 18 he had already established a reputation as a calligrapher, going on to graduate from the University of Damascus in 1998 with his MA in Fine Art. Today, he is an internationally recognised master of Arabic calligraphy, and he works in an astonishing range of styles, from decorous classical modes (which he often uses for quotations from poetry) to radically inventive compositions, in which lettering is fragmented into fantastical, almost pictorial compositions. It is this breath-taking beauty of his work that makes it so immediately accessible to all.

Al-Saa’i deals with Arabic letter shapes, and their symbolic, religious and musical origins. It is this variety of meaning, as well as the formal possibilities of the various writing styles, that influence the artist’s creative processes. On his numerous trips through Arab countries, Europe, and the United States, he has been inspired by cities and the countryside, by landscapes and architecture, by the bustle of people in the street, by the changing of the seasons, and the myriad atmospheric occurrences that take place within both the urban and the national environment. It is these that inspire him to realise his impressions in calligraphic creations, in each case choosing a writing style that provides the best sensorial and emotional fit to his impressions. Letters and words are not arranged on a straight or horizontal line but rather written densely or detached, superimposed or one below the other, interlaced or labyrinthine in the imaginary space of the canvas. Letters interwoven in this way follow their own peculiar rhythm. Highly individualistic landscapes emerge as well as pictures that depict personal feelings and sensations.

Al-Saa’i’s work has always been less about the specific phrases he embeds in his work than the visual atmosphere. Here, his skilful melding of media unites these tiny voices in protest, raised and uplifted by the sweeping arcs of his own painterly mastery. Memory of a City harkens to the memory of city walls, of the memory of its streets, people and places. It brings together both good and bad memories, blending them all together like a tornado, spinning ever faster until they are melded into one new vision – that of a city that never dies, but rather, is dormant until one day it can rise again.