A woodcarving forum titled “Palmyra: Gate of the Sun” began its activities on Saturday evening in the town of Naqib in Tartous province, with the participation of 25 sculptors from Tartous, Damascus, Deir Ezzor, Lattakia, Homs, and Sweida, in addition to 8 other plastic artists from Tartous, Homs, and Sweida.

Sculptor Zuheir Khalifa from Lattakia told SANA’s correspondent that what terrorists did in Palmyra pained him greatly and inspired him to make a sculptor that depicts Palmyra’s archeological sites and features and how terrorists damaged it.

Meanwhile, sculptor Ali Baha’a Moalla said that his piece will depict Palmyran queen Zenobia unchained in an antithesis to the 19th century sculpture by Harriet Hosmer who depicted Zenobia in chains as the captive of Romans.

In turn, sculptor Hassan Sleiman from Lattakia said he intends to depict the martyred archeologist Khaled al-Assad who was murdered by terrorists, while Issa Salameh from Tartous said his piece will attempt to depict victory as a concept being realized at the hands of the Syrian Arab Army.

The forum will last for 20 days during which the participating artists will finish their pieces. The event is accompanied by several musical activities.