Aktham has
built up his reputation over the last two decades through his
fine expressionistic sculptures on the one hand, and as one of
the founders of the Institute of Applied Arts on the other hand.
His sculptures tend to be outdoor pieces, and he prefers to work
in wood and bronze techniques. His expressionistic style is most
evident through the theme of women. "Woman is integrated in the
whole field of life; she embodies it, she has sacred
characteristics and a sacred relationship with the cosmos", he
said.
He graduated
from the Faculty of Fine Arts in 1981, worked as a sculptor and
architectural restorer in 1985, and he was the head and founder
of the sculpture section from 1987 to 2000. Since 2000 he has
held the post of director of the institute. He has participated
in several forums in different countries such as Egypt, Bahrain
and France, and he has also received several awards. He has
arranged six local symposia and two international events in
Spain in Almuņecar. click
here
In 1987, Aktham and other artists were asked to establish and
run the Institute of Applied Arts, which was set up in a
beautiful ancient location inside Damascus Castle, but they are
currentle preparing to move to another place in a few years'
time. Aktham's main goal is to enable the students to use and
work with different rough techniques. Furthermore, he always
seeks to arrange symposia in order to develop the students'
skills and creativeness: "As sculptors and teachers we try to
communicate with our students through arranging forums,'' he
said, "and two students have received international awards; one
award for a calligrapher in Turkey (Istanbul) in 2000, and
recently a golden award for a ceramics artist in Italy
(Florence) in 2006".
Overview of the Institute of Applied Arts:
The Institute
was set up on 19/09/1987 in the Damascus Castle. After two years
of study, students could affiliate to the Institute by taking
part in a contest, and they also could choose a specialty right
from the time of registration.
The Institute comprises the following sections:
Sculpture
Photography and T.V Production
Ceramics
Calligraphy
Vision:
The vision is to develop traditional crafts in order
to find a new place in the marketplace.
Mission:
The mission is to create educated
artistic professionals with certificates from the Institute of Applied Arts.
Goals:
The goals are to preserve Syrian crafts and
professions, and to increase production in order to
enter international art fairs.
Activities:
To arrange training camps for all student
specializations
To arrange sculpture symposia in different
cities of Syria
To arrange exhibitions of ceramics and
calligraphy
To arrange workshops presented by foreign
experts from different countries
To arrange training camps for all student
specializations
Arts