Children Of Syria

Michael Sheen Visits Syrian refugee in the Bekka Valley to highlight their needs as winter approaches.

A Syrian boy plays on a fence at the refugee camp at the King Abdullah Gardens inside the town of Ramtha, Sunday, July 22, 2012. (Photo Credit/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

A man throws his daughter into the air inside a Syrian refugee camp 25km from Antakya in southern Turkey near the border with Syria, in Boynuyogun, Turkey, March 27, 2012. (Photo Credit/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

ALEPPO: August 3rd 2012: In areas liberated by the Free Syrian Army, protestors took to Aleppo's streets to demonstrate against the Assad regime, following Friday prayers. (Photo by Ayman Oghanna)

Syrian children go to a small shuttle school, set up for families who were scared to send their children far in the midst of war, in the village of Tlalin, in northern Aleppo province, February 9, 2013. The school is taught by a medical student, whose own studies were cut short because of fighting. The members of the Tlalin council have been working hard in Tlalin to get the town up and running again in the midst of the war. They have recently been able to provide the bakery with flour to make bread, and are working on providing water, electricity, and other facets of infrastructure, while also ensuring there is education for the children and a piecemeal security force. While parts of Aleppo faces constant fighting between regime forces and the Free Syrian Army, there are villages that are trying to build a town council, and help return life back to some semblance of normalcy amidst the war. (Credit: Lynsey Addario, for The New York Times)

About the Project

In 2011, as part of the Arab Spring movement, protests in Syria broke out against the government. The protests turned into a conflict as armed forces violently suppressed the uprisings. This conflict has continued for over 11 years, displacing about 13 million Syrians and killing over 300,000 civilians.

A print exhibition produced by ART WORKS Projects, The Children of Syria features the work of international photographers documenting the lives of displaced and refugee children who have been impacted by the current crisis in Syria. Images by award-winning collaborators explore the manner in which the conflict has affected Syria’s youngest citizens in terms of health, security, and education. Photographer Kate Brooks said, “The consequences of what is happening now are going to play out for years to come. We’re talking about a lost generation of children.” This exhibit aims to raise awareness about the conflict in Syria and specifically the impact it is having on children. Although produced in 2014, this exhibit is relevant today as the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and anti-refugee sentiment in Turkey has led to increased conversation and attention on the war in Syria.

about the artists

Lynsey Addario

Lynsey Addario is an award-winning American photojournalist.

Kate Brooks

Kate Brooks is an American photojournalist who works in the Middle East.

Bassam Khabieh

Bassam Khabieh is a Syrian photographer who has covered some of the most painful and important aspects of the Syrian conflict from inside the country while working with Reuters.

Javier Manzano

Javier Manzano is an award-winning photojournalist currently based in and covering the Middle East.

Ayman Oghanna

Ayman Oghanna is a British Iraqi, born and raised in London, who now works covering the Arab World.

Tara Todras-Whitehill

Tara Todras-Whitehill is a photojournalist and communications consultant based in Istanbul, Turkey.

Exhibit video

ART WORKS Projects produced a video showing many of the photos from this exhibit alongside information and statistics about the crisis in Syria.

Children of Syria video (3 min. 21 sec.)

Public Programs

The Children of Syria Opening in Chicago

March 19, 2014

625 N. Kingsbury St., Chicago
Special thanks to Lynsey Addario, Photographer; Kate Brooks; Bassam Khabieh; Javier Manzano; Ayman Oghanna & Tara Todras-Whitehill; and Leah Missbach Day, Photographer.

The Children of Syria Closing Reception

April 2, 2014

625 N. Kingsbury St., Chicago
Special thanks to speakers Wendy Pearlman, Crown Junior Chair in Middle East Studies and Assistant Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University; Karen AbuZayd, Commissioner at Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic; and moderator Dr. Mandy Terc, Middle East Anthropologist and Syria Expert.

Panel Discussion

Panel Discussion with Nader Hashemi and Danny Postel moderated by Nabeel Khoury. Hosted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs; The Chicago Club; Chicago, IL

Exhibit at the Russell Senate Office Building

Russell Senate Office Building. Remarks by Senator John McCain and presented with UNHCR and The Better World Foundation; Washington, D.C.