Could you just sort of stand back for us a-and give us a big overview of what's happening in Syria at the moment?

Absolutely.

Um, I mean, everyone was positive, uh, about the transition in Syria.

But in the last six month, the dissent from the ground over the economic issues and the, uh, bad delivery of services, uh, people find themselves...

Most people are worse off, uh, right now in Syria than before.

So there is a lot of pressure coming also with the demands for justice, because many of the criminals of the Assad era are still roaming around for free, uh, around, uh, uh, Syria.

So, uh, these trials, they come at a time when taking pressure is really needed for the government and is serving them, uh, very well.

Uh, elsewhere, uh, how much violence is there in Syria at the moment?

Really? And you were not failed?

No, because how are they going to find out? There's no Google, nothing.

I just say Hafizat said this, he said that, and you kind of know how to phrase things to sound like him, and I pass this.

The other way they kind of try to control is to rewrite our history, right? So not only to justify their presence, but also, for example, like the history of our struggle against the French colonialism.

was reduced to an armed struggle.

Whereas all the activities of the Syrian political parties, the civil society, the struggle for constitution, completely written out of history.

The message to people was that if you want to change, it's only through armed struggles, and we are the ones who control the security apparatus in the country, so you have no way.

Please take us into this institution that you've been part of, what's its work about, and your broader reflections of the power of arts and culture in the context of the Arab region.