Backgammon Board

[0:03] The backgammon board that I now have is made in a particular way. It has wooden inlay and mother of pearl inlay on the top of it, and it's a very decorative piece. [0:14] And over the years of being here, I realised how sad it was that I no longer owned any object that was made in this kind of way. [0:23] It's very connected to my cultural heritage. The aesthetic of it is very, very connected to Syrian identity and design, and it was a real staple of any Syrian home. Small pieces of wood or mother of pearl are puzzled together by being cut in a very detailed way. [0:46] Different types of wood that are stained different colours, and also pieces of mother of pearl are all finely cut in a geometric pattern and then are inlaid onto the surface of either the furniture, or this backgammon board. [1:04] The game backgammon is very complex. Even though the movements that you make are quite simple, the way you have to think ahead and think mathematically to win the game is fascinating, and people that are good at the game do it in such a speed. I think I always used to watch people playing it in that way and think with practice, I would get to be that good. [1:28] But obviously it never happened, and now it's not a really common part of my life. When I recently thought about playing backgammon, all those memories of playing backgammon in various coffee shops or people's houses in Syria came flooding back. [1:49] And I realised I just felt a sudden wave of sadness of, you know, something that was lost. [1:55] But for me, the board itself as well, and the way it's made has the big significance. The inlay method, of making wooden pieces. Even though it's stunningly beautiful, you know, you saw them all around you, every time you go to the old city, people would be selling them. So I never saw them in the way that I'm seeing them now. [2:18] You don't appreciate what's there until it's gone. So, the fact that I was able to get this meant so much to me. My dad thought it was quite strange that I was asking for it, but, you know, he brought it for me anyway, and now I have it, it feels like this precious, precious thing that I have to look after and preserve for eternity because I never know if I'll get a chance to get another piece. [2:44] I always used to love going to the Old City in Aleppo, you know, going to the souks and medina. As an artist, I was always interested in finding beautiful objects. So, the places that you would obtain these objects are of deep significance to me because these areas have gotten destroyed multiple times, firstly through the war, and then this particular area that my dad purchased the backgammon board, I know got affected by the earthquake. [3:18] In my home in Aleppo, we actually have a backgammon table, which is an incredibly beautiful piece of furniture. The entire table itself folds into a rectangular side table design, but when you want to play your backgammon, you would open it up and it's this huge piece of furniture, all inlaid with wood and mother of pearl. [3:39] And that piece of furniture we can't bring back from Syria. My father would never be able to bring it over. It's too fragile, too large. So, we always had it as a side table with a mirror hanging over it. We never actually played it. And again, this is having this backgammon board here and being able to play it is sort of living an unlived situation where I never played on the big board.