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Video Title : Hrair Sarkissian: Syria's "Execution Squares"

Video Description : This video brought to you by Tate.org.uk Syrian artist Hrair Sarkissian was profoundly marked after witnessing a public execution as a child. Having grown up around photographs, Sarkissian decided to use his craft to engage with and document the places that have haunted him the most. Taken in the Syrian cities of Damascus, Aleppo, and Lattakia, Execution Squares takes us to the major public squares in which executions have taken place for civil rather than political crimes. Sarkissian photographed the squares in the early morning when the streets were quiet, around the time when executions are typically carried out. Does seeing these empty squares encourage you to imagine that these peaceful places, and that no such acts of violence could have occurred there? Or does knowing Sarkissian’s stories of what really happened give these photographs new meaning?

Video ID : xda037b79