Everyone has the right to make art
Art is for everyone and
it comes from anyone
I’m Mousa Alnana
I’m a Syrian artist
based in Glasgow, Scotland and I’m a painter
graphic designer and a tattoo artist
I grew up in Homs, Syria
My childhood was
it was good, but I always felt that I am different
and I always loved art
My mum was a seamstress
and I was always fascinated by the process and I was
I remember designing clothes for her to make
I went to Damascus University
to study fine arts
Fine arts is a big umbrella
that holds a lot of art methods within it
Like until today, I go back to what
I have learned studying fine art in my process today
Right now I'm working on the floor of my own flat
This place is my living room and my dining room
and my studio
Yeah, welcome to my casa
I really hate to paint when people are looking at me
Like when you paint it's a very vulnerable thing to do
It's like praying
it's very personal, at least for me
Right now I'm working on this piece
It's divided into 100 squares and it will have 100 portraits
It represents people who struggled
and sought asylum just because of who they are
All those paintings that you can see
they are a part of a project that I'm working on
called ‘Unorthodox Heretics’
I'm talking specifically about the queer people
in the Middle East and how they are casted as heretics
Even now in the West
they take the queer rights for granted and celebrated
But there is thousands, if not millions of people that
are still
struggling and they still
need to find their rights
Good evening, the turmoil in the Middle East has spread to Syria
which has seen unprecedented challenges
to the ten year rule of President al-Assad
Reports from Syria say that 26 people have been killed
today, adding to an escalating death toll
from eight months of anti-government protests
In Syria, we have a military service
and I had to go and eventually fight in a war
that isn't mine
So the reason I left Syria is because of that
It was a matter of basically surviving
We are looking at masses of civilians
who are being either killed, detained, tortured
I left 2012
I went to Cairo, to Egypt
That jump, it was very rushed
it was very necessary and was very, very difficult for me
My parents and my family
were in Homs and I couldn't actually travel to see them
I had to say goodbye over the phone
and it was a very difficult move
Aleppo produces no winners, only refugees
I didn't know Glasgow, to be honest
I knew that I'm coming to Glasgow just 14 days before
the actual flight to come to Scotland
and so I went to Google and I was
Googling Glasgow
basically, and I came across the accent
and I was very surprised of it
I was a little bit
scared that I won't be able to understand people
I do consider Glasgow home now because it's
such a welcoming place
Yeah, I just love it, it's not the perfect place
nowhere is perfect, but it suits me very well
So I feel like Glasgow is perfect for me
With the situation now, with the migration
rights and the political situation
in the UK and in the world in general
I don't feel very, very secure still
which is something that I have been looking for
most of my life
I think people take security and stability for granted
That's all they know
I'm happy that I'm here, that I found a place that
accepts me the way I am, I can be who I want to be
and that's great
But I genuinely wish that it's going to last forever
Museum of Things is an initiative project
that has been started by Maryhill Integration Network
and they invited me and another artist
to plan and facilitate the art workshops
They came to us with an idea that they want to do an art
project for people
from migration background and asylum seekers
and refugees who are stuck in the lockdown
You’re good?
How are you?
Kedest do you want to say ‘heyo’?
(Singing) oleyo, oleyo, oh la oh la, oleyo
So that's a calling for people to calm down
Today we're going to work on designs for Christmas cards
I remember looking at the word
‘fun’ in the brief and I was like
‘that is such an important way to approach it’
That was the main aim for us and for me personally, to
work with people without pointing out at their traumas
and that by itself is
a great help and a great way for people
from a migration
background to connect and feel
that they belong in their new community
Seriously I come here for the group first, most of us are refugees
and in the past as well, asylum seekers, some of us
So we share the same circumstances
When I get here, I don't know anyone
that's a very hard time for me
I get here and now I'm very happy
I see new people, I see a new friends
that's good for me
I live in Glasgow from 13 years ago
and I'm still asylum seeker
So I have too much stress and anxieties
Every Saturday weekly I join this team
so I feel better
I was very happy to
be part of a project that not just help people
from migration
backgrounds be part of the new community
but also to show them and show people
what art can do and make art more approachable, more
available and less intimidating
Yes, Glasgow is home and Scotland is home
I moved to Scotland on
14th of February 2019, so that was Valentine's Day
so now that day is actually
my anniversary with Scotland
Every year I try to do
something happy or have a drink
Absolutely, it's a love story for sure