الأيام‭ ‬تستمر |The Days Go On: 20 Years of Ayyam Gallery

It is an honor to present الأيام‭ ‬تستمر | The Days Go On, celebrating Ayyam Gallery’s 20th year. Ayyam’s 20th-anniversary exhibition seeks to honor a journey defined by continuity, resilience, and artistic exchange. Much like the gallery’s programming, the exhibition is conceived as a visceral experience, a story that has withstood the test of time.

Alongside co-curators Safwan Dahoul and Ali Kaaf, director Maya Samawi aims to bring together works by all the artists who have shaped Ayyam over the past twenty years. Each curator represents a continuous artistic timeline in which the past and present complete one another and remain undeniably connected.

The exhibition is accompanied by an archive that traces this history as fully as possible, not merely the story of a gallery, but of the artists, people, places, relationships, and circumstances that have shaped it.

Ultimately, Ayyam’s twenty years are not merely a measure of time. They constitute a living history—one that continues to unfold.

The exhibition will feature works by, Youssef Abdelke, Safwan Dahoul, Mounzer Kamnakache, Fadi Yazigi, Abdullah Murad, Assad Arabi, Nassouh Zaghlouleh, Mouneer Al Shaarani, Walid El Masri, Kais Salman, Nihad Al Turk, Mouteea Murad, Mohannad Orabi, Omran Younes, Abdul Karim Majdal Al-Beik, Ammar Al-Beik, Asma Fayoumi, Samia Halaby, Tammam Azzam, Leila Nseir, Moustafa Fathi, Othman Moussa, Oussama Diab, Khaled Takreti, Thaier Helal, Nadim Karam, Rima Salamoun, Elias Izoli, Sadik Kwaish Alfraji, Mohamad Badr, Lara Zankoul, Lara Attallah, Ammar Abd Rabbo, Farzad Kohan Mousawi, Afshin Pirhashemi, Faisal Samra, Abdulnasser Gharem, Fathallah Zamroud, Shurooq Amin, Mohammad Bozorgi, Sama Alshaibi, Noor Bahjat, Rula Halawani, Khaled Jarrar, Rashed Al Shashai, Roshanak Aminelahi, Abdalla Al Omari, Rashid Al Khalifa, Muatasim Alkubaisy, Khaled Akil, Athar Jaber, and Ali Kaaf.

About Ayyam Gallery’s 20th anniversary

In 2006, Khaled and Jouhayna Samawi founded Ayyam Gallery with the belief that the Syrian art scene held significant potential if given the necessary support. With an initial roster of just five established artists, they launched the gallery with confidence in its future.

The project gained rapid momentum, reinforcing their confidence in what they were creating and prompting them to expand the gallery’s roster beyond its initial five artists. To move forward, they looked to a younger generation of serious, ambitious artists whose careers were still developing and could grow alongside the gallery. This desire led to the creation of the Shabab Ayyam initiative—a competition designed to identify promising artists and guide them into the gallery’s sphere. 

Having established a roster with the artistic depth and confidence to expand its vision beyond Damascus, Ayyam opened a new space in Dubai through Khaled’s partnership with his cousin, Hisham. This marked a significant turning point, transforming Ayyam from a Damascus-based gallery into an internationally recognized institution.

What followed was a dramatically accelerated expansion that was at once geographical, commercial, and institutional. Its expansion into Beirut soon followed, then Cairo; Ayyam’s presence in Dubai multiplied, before London and Jeddah extended its reach even further. Although some of these ventures proved short-lived due to the Arab Spring, they reflected the sheer magnitude and audacity of Ayyam’s ambition. That same ambition soon took other forms. Ayyam Publishing, Ayyam Editions, The Young Collectors Auction, Ayyam Projects, the Ayyam Art Center, and the Young Artist in Residency program all extended the gallery’s activities well beyond representation and exhibition-making. Ayyam’s expansionary ambitions required them to look outward, while the interest they had already gathered around them gave them the opportunity to do so, opening the way for them to gradually broaden their roster within a wider regional framework. What began as a distinctly Syrian project had evolved into a much broader Middle Eastern gallery with a strong international presence, a considerably wider roster, and far greater artistic range and depth.

In 2016, Ayyam began reassessing the scope of its operations, leading the gallery to revise and streamline them around what it considered essential to its program. The goal was not merely to cut back but to refocus on its priority: the gallery. 

Since 2018, the second generation of the Samawi family has carried Ayyam Gallery into its next chapter. The transition was gradual: Ead, the eldest, had been working alongside his parents since 2014, growing with the gallery through the changes that shaped its development. Today, the second generation is building on this foundation by introducing new voices, deepening longstanding relationships, and continuing to expand the gallery’s artistic vision. As Ayyam enters its third decade, continuity and growth remain central to its direction, guided by Maya, the gallery’s current director. Looking ahead, Ayyam is committed to supporting artists, fostering meaningful exchange, and creating new opportunities for the region’s art and cultural communities. Its future will be shaped by the same ambition that defined its beginnings, together with the artists, collectors, and collaborators who have sustained its journey over the past twenty years.