DUBAI:“In the Age of New Media” presented six works from five Syrian artists and is described by curators at the Atassi Foundation as “a thoughtful selection of contemporary classics, referring to the traditional art of painting.” The exhibit was showing at Al Serkal Avenue in Dubai and closed on Dec.16. “Fish” (2015) Youssef Abdelke In this piece, Abdelke conveys oppression and violence, but through the gradation of the charcoal also implies a sense of optimism to the viewer. “Time Immortal” (2018) Kevork Mourad New York-based Murad is originally of Armenian origin, and this work, drawn on muslin fabric then cut out and arranged in rows to create “an installation of sorts,” is connected to Mesopotamia and, according to the release that marked the exhibition’s launch “declares his affiliation to this part of the earth.”The subtitle of this piece is “The Gods Abandon Palmyra,” and it is based on the ancient flood story of Mesopotamian legends, the Holy Qur’an and the Bible, but retold in “a fantastic contemporary artistic language.” Zayat has described the essence of the story as an attempt to “reorganize the universe and rebuild it in an honorable manner after it was over-flooded by evils…”