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An artist's 'explosive' works convey hope amid death in Syria

Akram Swedaan, an artist displaced from eastern Gouta, opposes war by transforming ammunition into canvases to create works of art.

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The artist Akram Swedaan paints on the remains of a missile, seen in an image uploaded Dec. 18, 2018. — Facebook/painting.on.death

A large missile incubator stands in the middle of the room that Akram Swedaan uses as his studio. In a few days, he will completely transform the weapon of war into a work of art with the strokes of his paintbrush.

Born Akram Abo Alfoz in Douma, eastern Ghouta, Swedaan, a self-taught painter, has made a name for himself in the last three years by transforming the remnants of shells, missiles and bullets he collects from the street in “defiance of the death plaguing Syria.” 

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