Amid the challenges of war, displacement, and diaspora, Syrian women have emerged as carriers of collective memory and guardians of a heritage threatened with extinction. They have turned to folktales, folk songs, traditional clothing, and cuisine as tools of cultural resistance and a shield for national identity.
These efforts were not individual acts but a growing movement that preserved the features of Syrian culture across generations in the absence of official institutions. Through households, community initiatives, and new media, women have not only safeguarded the past but also linked the present to the future by teaching children traditional songs, reviving clothing styles, and sharing culinary recipes. Their work affirms that while war may destroy buildings, it cannot erase collective memory.
Today, their experience stands as a unique model of cultural resilience, preserving Syrian diversity as a cornerstone of national identity and sending a message to future generations that heritage is the first line of defense against oblivion.
Women the First Line of Defense for Cultural Memory
Visual artist Nahed Ahmad al-Hindi stresses that Syrian women played the greatest role in protecting heritage during the years of war through dialect, folkloric clothing, traditional cuisine, customs, and traditions. She believes that women, by their natural connection to the home, became the primary transmitters of what they inherited from parents and grandparents to their children, making them the first line of defense for Syrian cultural memory, especially in the face of mass displacement.
Speaking to +963, Nahed, who hails from Raqqa, points out that women in her city have preserved the oral transmission of folktales and legendary stories, including the well-known tale of “Ghaida,” while also ensuring that children continue to learn traditional folk songs.
She adds that traditional clothing remains the most prominent marker of identity in Raqqa. The people of the city have held on to their garments such as the Zaboun, Hubari, and Qaseera, along with distinctive embroidery that sets them apart from other Syrian folk costumes. Similarly, Raqqa’s cuisine has not disappeared, as women have continued to prepare signature dishes for guests, including Tharid, Sayayel, and Jeykeh, as a way of preserving their city’s identity.
On her choice to paint on pottery, Al Hindi says she drew inspiration from her city’s history, which has been renowned for pottery and glassmaking for centuries. “My mission as a visual artist is to transmit and introduce the heritage of my ancestors. That is why I chose pottery painting, to revive this legacy,” she explains. She draws on heritage symbols embedded in clothing and Arab nature, as well as geometric and botanical motifs. She affirms that pottery is not just material, but a living memory that carries the imprint of place and people.
She concludes, “What remains in our memory we will pass on to our children. I will dedicate myself to teaching pottery painting and organizing workshops so that this heritage remains alive and never disappears.”
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Folk Heritage as Silent Resistance in the Face of War
Syrian visual artist Abeer Al Nabulsi, currently residing in Kuwait, believes that the deep connection of Syrian women to home and family made them the primary carriers of cultural memory and the direct transmitters of heritage across generations.
In her interview with +963, she explains that women preserved heritage by reproducing it in the details of their daily lives, whether through folktales, folk songs, traditional cooking, or sewing folkloric garments. This made Syrian cultural memory present despite displacement and diaspora.
Al Nabulsi stresses that while women contributed to various aspects of heritage, cuisine and clothing had the strongest presence because of their direct connection to the household and continuity of daily life. She adds that clinging to folk heritage under the conditions of war was not merely a routine practice but a silent act of resistance against erasure and uprooting, an insistence on protecting Syrian identity both at home and abroad.
As for the challenges, she points out that displacement, lack of stability, and harsh living conditions were the main obstacles to preserving heritage, in addition to the difficulty of practicing traditional rituals in new countries. Yet despite this, women managed to transform the details of daily life into renewed cultural bridges, through dishes that carried the memory of place, songs and stories that kept language alive, and traditions that preserved identity in the hearts of children.
The Role of Women in Preserving Collective Memory
Hassan Ahmad, a civil society activist, tells +963 that Syrian women have played a central role in safeguarding folk heritage during years of war and displacement. They became guardians of collective memory through stories, songs, cuisine, and traditional clothing, in camps and in exile, as though establishing a steadfast front against forgetfulness.
He stresses that women were at the forefront because they have historically been the carriers of daily culture and its primary source. The war forced them to shoulder additional responsibilities in the absence of men. His organization has documented inspiring women-led initiatives such as preserving folktales through oral recordings, organizing workshops on Syrian cuisine, teaching girls embroidery, and reviving the dabke dance in refugee camps.
Ahmad concludes that Syrian women present a message of resilience to the world: “Culture does not die with war, and the homeland can live in a story, a garment, or a tune preserved by a woman wherever she may be.”
