Syrian-born author and humanitarian Siwar Al Assad continues to expand his work beyond the written page, advancing an international mission focused on cultural preservation, dialogue, and the protection of human dignity across the Levant.

Known globally for his novels and essays exploring identity, memory, and exile, Al Assad’s current work through the Aramea Foundation and Arab News Network underscores his belief that the survival of culture is inseparable from the survival of people. “Rebuilding a nation begins with its spirit,” he said in a recent interview. “Before the roads and schools, there must be trust, understanding, and memory.”

Founded in 2016 and based in London, the Aramea Foundation was established to assist displaced Syrians and safeguard the region’s cultural heritage. The foundation’s work spans multiple fields: supporting refugee communities in Europe, aiding restoration initiatives for damaged historical sites, and partnering with institutions that document the artistic and architectural history of the Levant.

Al-Assad’s efforts have drawn increasing attention from cultural and humanitarian circles for their pragmatic approach. Rather than focusing solely on relief, the Aramea Foundation emphasises education and heritage as the building blocks of long-term recovery. Through this philosophy, Al-Assad positions culture as both moral inheritance and social infrastructure, a vital force for rebuilding civic identity after conflict.

As director of the Arab News Network (ANN), Al Assad extends the same vision into journalism. Based in London, the multilingual network produces programming in Arabic and English with a focus on balanced reporting, art, and cultural exchange. Under his leadership, ANN has sought to create space for moderate voices and constructive dialogue within the broader Arab media landscape.

"Truth and culture are not luxuries in times of conflict," Al-Assad has written. "They are the foundation for reconciliation." His media and literary work share the same core conviction: that words, when used with integrity, can rebuild trust where violence has broken it.

Al Assad’s dedication to cultural preservation is deeply personal. Born in Damascus in 1975 and exiled with his family at the age of nine, he was educated in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and at the Panthéon-Sorbonne University in Paris. His upbringing between continents gave him a unique vantage point on identity, displacement, and the moral duty of remembrance.

Through his literary works, including A Coeur Perdu, Guard Thy Heart, Le Temps d’une Saison, and Palmyre pour toujours, Al Assad explores these same questions through art. His writing fuses narrative craft with ethical reflection, linking personal exile to collective memory.

In Palmyre pour toujours, he pays homage to Syria’s ancient oasis city of Palmyra, destroyed during the war. The book serves as both an elegy and a call to action: an appeal to governments and institutions to protect the heritage of the Levant from neglect and ideological erasure.

Today, Siwar Al Assad’s mission is broader than literature. It is a call for compassion anchored in law, and for memory grounded in justice. His work across culture, media, and advocacy reaffirms that rebuilding nations begins not with force, but with understanding.

“History teaches us that forgetting is dangerous,” he said. “When we preserve culture, we preserve the possibility of peace.”

Through the Aramea Foundation, his writing, and his public voice, Al Assad continues to stand for what he calls “a cultural reconstruction of the human spirit”, a reminder that dignity, once lost, can still be restored through shared memory and dialogue.

About the Author:

Siwar Al Assad is a multilingual Syrian author known for A Coeur Perdu, Guard Thy Heart, Le Temps d’une Saison, and Palmyre Pour Toujours. He is the founder of the Aramea Foundation and serves as the director of Arab News Network. His fiction and nonfiction work explores themes of identity, memory, exile, and emotional recovery.

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