Exhibition: carte blanche to Monif Ajaj between Syria and the Dordogne at the Château de Campagne

Based in Dordogne since 2012, Monif Ajaj, a committed Franco-Syrian visual artist, unveils his expressionist style all summer at the Domaine de Campagne. An exhibition inspired by war, dictatorship, illness, but also by the soothing nature

This committed and "instinctive" work can be discovered all summer at the Château de Campagne, in the Vézère Valley. The Dordogne Department, owner of the magnificent estate, has given carte blanche to the Franco-Syrian visual artist Monif Ajaj, who is exhibiting there until September 21 (1).

“I paint by instinct. Realism doesn't interest me. It's easy to do. I know what it is. I studied at the Belarusian Academy of Fine Arts in Minsk for six years, until 1995,” says Monif. In one of the castle's rooms, visitors are struck by the psychedelic gaze of dictator Bashar al-Assad. “I was inspired by official portraits, but look, the painting is metallic, because metal is hard,” explains the artist. Two other paintings, one almost black except for the presence of a white bus, and the other white and blood red, sit alongside the pointed face. “It's a black hole, and this white bus is a reference to ethnic cleansing, to all these people taken away far from home,” explains Monif Ajaj.

"The body in France, but the head in Syria", he had to relearn the codes

For him, expressionism is second nature. Arriving in Dordogne in 2012 with his French ex-wife, he left Syria before the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime. Under the Syrian regime, he first taught at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus. "I could see that abnormal things were happening. Soldiers in the streets, violence everywhere." He repurposes propaganda images. He exhibits in Jordan, but hardly ever in his native country. His creations take on a politically engaged tone, forcing him to flee.

"My body is in France, but my head is in Syria," he had to relearn the codes. "The materiality is different, I didn't speak the language, I made myself small. I lacked the confidence I find in working, in integrating." Both as an artist, but also as a seasonal market gardener, first, and then as a road mender in Sorges, because you have to make a living.

The Department chose him from among some fifty Périgord creators. Monif Ajaj, who will be exhibiting in Dubai in September, is no stranger to the Dordogne. He has participated in several artist residencies in psychiatric hospitals, at the John-Bost Foundation near Bergerac, and at the Vauclaire specialized hospital . There, for several months, he felt the pain of illness, "so close to war." His upturned heads and deformed and fragile body fragments bear witness to this. Indian ink and acrylic in red and black suggest anguish, sometimes woven into a sunflower from which a snake springs, his "worst nightmare."

Different periods, intimately connected to his life path. And always this sensitivity at the surface, with a saving taste for nature that soothes him, dragonflies, truffle fields and other oak leaves. A more vivid and colorful painting, like a wind of hope.

(1) Exhibition visible at the Château de Campagne until September 21, every day from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Guided tour Wednesday, August 27 at 2 p.m. Free entry .