Hasan Ibrahim Belal | UNDERGROUND HOUSE IN SYRIA
Despite the dire conditions we face in Syria, we want to survive and live our lives normally; go to parties, have regular happy nightlife, and socialize with people.
As a photographer in “UGH,” this project shows the other side of Syrian life at the weekends.
I don’t like this kind of music, “Techno,” and I will not listen to it on my typical day. Still, when I pick up my camera during the underground house events, I feel freedom and responsibility towards a large group of humans who celebrate despite all the bad situations they live in. So I’m interested in documenting this kind of honest reaction compared with what we face.
The UGH is a platform established in 2017 which aims to promote electronic music culture in Syria; started working in Tartous city and then moved to Damascus324 in early 2018.
Aiming for providing a qualified musical experience to the Syrian youth where the musical scene inside Syria was polluted with commercial events that did not leave any space for suitable music events.
The Underground House approach provides a space for all artists to express and share their work through our events. We also outreach for external collaboration opportunities to ensure the proper exposure for the Syrian artists who remain inside Syria.
The platform members come from an artistic background where most of them are graduates or students at the Higher Institute for Dramatic Arts studying music or sound engineering.
Underground House was the only active platform during the war and provided musical events even during the harshest times in Damascus; our motive was to sustain those events that are considered a stress-releasing atmosphere for the attendees.
Another achievement was establishing good collaborations with other countries in the region, especially Lebanon and Jordan, where we enhanced our experience by interacting with other countries.
Hasan Ibrahim Belal
Hasan Ibrahim Belal, 28years old, graduated from economics university in Syria. He has been working as a photographer since 2010, with a particular interest in photojournalism and visual anthropology. Belal worked with many local and international agencies and NGOs in Syria, including UNICEF – ICRC – Caritas -NRC, and produced stories about life after war. He got a grant with Thompson Reuters with “Dar-Al Mosawer” in Beirut to train photojournalism with a related exhibition.
