A poster announcing the concert of Syrian singer Asala, on Sept. 15, 2026, at the Umayyad Square in Damascus. (Credit: Abdullah Okaily/L’Orient-Le Jour)
On billboards across Damascus, posters proclaim, "Asala's Return." It's the homecoming concert for Asala Nasri, the Syrian musical icon celebrated across the Arab world, after years of exile for her sharp criticism of Bashar al-Assad's former regime.Her name translates to "authenticity," allowing for clever wordplay on the posters, embellished with slogans from the Culture Ministry and private sponsors. "A nod to her commitment to the Syrian people since the uprising began in 2011," one of the sources involved in organizing the concert told us. On Tuesday, the artist finally returned to Damascus, two days before her Sept. 17 concert, one of the most anticipated events in Syria since the first anniversary of the fall of the regime on Dec. 8, 2024.But not far from those illuminated billboards,...
On billboards across Damascus, posters proclaim, "Asala's Return." It's the homecoming concert for Asala Nasri, the Syrian musical icon celebrated across the Arab world, after years of exile for her sharp criticism of Bashar al-Assad's former regime.Her name translates to "authenticity," allowing for clever wordplay on the posters, embellished with slogans from the Culture Ministry and private sponsors. "A nod to her commitment to the Syrian people since the uprising began in 2011," one of the sources involved in organizing the concert told us. On Tuesday, the artist finally returned to Damascus, two days before her Sept. 17 concert, one of the most anticipated events in Syria since the first anniversary of the fall of the regime on Dec. 8, 2024.But not far from those illuminated billboards,...
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