The Thread of Memory by Adeeb Alhariry
As part of the 2026 STEPS Public Art Residency, and in partnership with YYZ Artists’ Outlet, Adeeb Alhariry, a Syrian visual storyteller and multimedia artist based in Toronto, Canada, painted a mural exploring themes of loss, enforced disappearance, memory, resilience, and the enduring human need to seek truth.
Project at a glance
Location: YYZ Artist’s Outlet, #140 – 401 Richmond St W, Toronto
Artists: Adeeb Alhariry
Documentarians: Heaven Silver
Year: 2026
Services: Artist Capacity Building
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artist-in-residence
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temporary painted mural
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partner
About Thread of Memory by Adeeb Alhariry
This work explores themes of loss, enforced disappearance, memory, resilience, and the enduring human need to seek truth. I am particularly drawn to what it means for people to find the strength to continue with their lives while the fate of someone they love remains unknown. Enforced disappearance creates a distinct form of loss: memory endures, questions remain open, and people continue their lives while carrying that uncertainty. Behind every missing person are families and individuals carrying stories that can remain for years within their inner lives, homes, memories, photographs, conversations, and silence.
At the center of the work, a woman carries within her an inner landscape of memory in which fragments of place, children, traces of destruction, a river, plants, and a bird overlap. A red thread moves through these elements, linking people, places, memories, and what remains unresolved or without closure. The growing plants, the bird, the flowing river, and the thread that continues its path all suggest that memory is not only about what has been lost, but also about what endures: connection, survival, the search for truth, and the ability to continue living while preserving the presence of those who are absent.
For me, realizing this work as a mural in a public space carries particular significance because it moves these stories from the private realm of memory into a physical presence within the city. It also allows people from different backgrounds and experiences to encounter these stories and find their own relationship to themes of loss, memory, hope, and belonging.
“As a newcomer to Canada, I was looking for an opportunity to continue my artistic practice, connect with Toronto’s arts community, and gain experience creating public art in a new environment. Although I had many years of experience as a visual artist, working on a large-scale mural and navigating the public art process in Canada were new experiences for me…STEPS helped coordinate the project and communicated clearly with me about the timeline, start date, and other logistical details. I appreciated having clear communication and the opportunity to take part in the project and create the mural independently.”
About the Artist
Adeeb Alhariry
Adeeb Alhariry is a Syrian visual storyteller and multimedia artist based in Toronto, Canada. His practice brings together illustration, animation, motion graphics, and mixed media, with a focus on the capacity of images to carry memory, emotion, and lived experience. Alhariry’s artistic voice has been shaped through years of working alongside Syrian civil society, human rights, and stabilization organizations. This background has informed a practice deeply engaged with memory, identity, displacement, and absence. Through his work, he explores how personal stories and collective histories can be transformed into visual narratives that transcend distance, language, and place. His visual language draws on testimonies, the memories of families who have experienced loss, and traditional Syrian visual references. He approaches image-making not merely as decoration, but as a form of communication and remembrance—a space where grief, resilience, and the hope for justice can coexist.
Funders
The 2026 STEPS Public Art Residency is made possible by support from TD Bank Group through the TD Ready Commitment.
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