Inside the halls of the National Museum in Damascus, where the scent of history lingers, a striking artistic testimony has emerged under the title Echoes of Rust. The exhibition is more than a traditional display, it is a living human story in which 18-year-old artist Pedro Nadaf transforms instruments of destruction into visual poems that speak to the soul.
Held under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and in cooperation with the Cuban Embassy, the exhibition features 37 sculptures crafted from remnants of war: shattered mortar shells, charred rocket fragments, and bomb debris personally collected from once-devastated areas such as Zabadani, Daraya, Ghouta, and Baba Amr.
Shrapnel Speaks the Language of Hope
Pedro, who hopes to enter the Faculty of Fine Arts, did not merely gather these remnants heavy with memory, he reshaped them with delicate precision into works that carry a message of renewal. Each sculpture tells a story of transformation, where tears become pearls and rusted fragments are reborn as symbols of endurance.
“I try to make the fragments a message of life instead of destruction,” he said, describing his vision of reclaiming memory from despair and turning it into fuel for creativity. His work stands as a testament to the Syrian spirit, the will to create beauty from ruin and to turn the scars of war into symbols of survival.
Cultural Bridges Between Damascus and Havana
The exhibition also embodies the enduring friendship between Syria and Cuba, as Pedro, a dual citizen, represents the union of both cultures. Cuban Ambassador Luis Mariano Fernández Rodríguez praised the young sculptor’s work, calling it “proof of art’s power to transcend borders and build bridges of love between peoples.”
Wassim Abdulhamid, Director of Fine Arts, explained that Echoes of Rust is part of a national program launched by the Ministry in early 2025 to nurture emerging talent. “This initiative reflects our faith in the new generation’s ability to express the nation’s conscience,” he said, “and to turn ashes into flowers, pain into hope.”
Echoes of Rust is more than an art exhibit, it is a reflection of a people’s resilience. Through Pedro’s sculptures, Syria’s tragedy is reimagined as triumph, where every shard of iron becomes a stroke of color and every scar tells a story of victory through beauty.
