Renowned Syriac painter Hanna al-Hayek passes away at age 79

Södertälje, Sweden – Syriac painter and artist Hanna-al-Hayek died at the age of 79 yesterday after a long illness in Södertälje, Sweden. The late al-Hayek was a renowned painter and his paintings have been exhibited in the international art circuit and he has received a number of performance and recognition awards.

The Syriac painter was born in the city of al-Hasakah in Syria and grew up in Zalin (Qamishli) in the Gozarto region of Bethnahrin. In Daramsuq (Damascus) he studied philosophy and art at the University of Damascus. Because of his love for painting, he became an arts teacher at schools in Zalin. Later he would hold board positions at various schools in the Gozarto (al-Jazeera) and again lived in Daramsuq.

In 1977 al-Hayek emigrated to Sweden and settled in Södertälje, where he gave art and painting classes for over 30 years. Al-Hayek was a member of the Scandinavian painting guild. He has held more than 50 exhibitions of his paintings in various galleries and museums in Sweden, Poland, Denmark, Belgium, Germany and other European countries.

His art had very different subjects, one of which was the Sayfo Genocide of 1915. He received several honorary awards. In 2000 he received the Eklovet culture award and the culture award of Naum Faik in 2002.