Pharmakon State is a community-driven exhibition and curatorial project initiated by the Jaramana Art Gathering in Damascus. Bringing together artists from diverse disciplines, the exhibition explores the entangled relationships between war, power, addiction, and systems of social control through the symbolic and political history of Captagon in Syria.

The title references the ancient Greek word pharmakon, meaning both “remedy” and “poison.” This contradiction forms the conceptual core of the exhibition: the same substance can heal or destroy, liberate or oppress. Through installations, painting, sculpture, photography, video, graphic design, and conceptual practices, the exhibition examines how addiction is instrumentalized within conditions of violence, economic collapse, and authoritarian rule.

Hosted inside the former Anti-Drug Center in Jaramana — a site associated with imprisonment and torture — the exhibition transforms the architecture of repression into a temporary cultural space. Rather than erasing the building’s history, the project preserves its physical traces, allowing the site itself to speak as part of the exhibition narrative. The project proposes art as a tool for collective reflection, rehabilitation, and social transformation.

Beyond the exhibition format, Pharmakon State functions as a broader civic initiative. It includes public programs, screenings, performances, workshops, awareness campaigns, and collaborations with local schools, activists, legal experts, and health organizations. The project challenges dominant narratives around addiction by shifting the focus from criminalization toward social justice, trauma, and care.

Curated by Khaled Barakeh, the exhibition features works by Alissa Azer, Angie Hamadeh, Baraa Oloum, Bassam Al-Hajili, Barham Al-Awad, Jihan Al-Qattan, Khaled Barakeh, Kholoud Al-Laham, Dareen Al-Shallak, Donia Ayoub, Riyad Al-Shoufi, Rabee Khalil, Rabee Haidar, Ruba Qarqout, Rahaf Reda, Rasha Al-Shoufi, Rawan Zahr El-Din, Roaa Breik Hneidi, Salam Salloum, Suleiman Obeid, Samah Adwan, Sanaa Daoud, Safwan Majoul, Abir Breik Hneidi, Abir Kiwan, Fajr Sheikh Al-Hara, Majed Al-Atrash, Maya Al-Qattan, Majdouline Al-Ali, Marina Al-Mhaithawi, Maisam Al-Ballous, Moheeb Barakeh, Nada Akl, Nader Bakri Badr El-Din, Nour Reda, Nivine Al-Khoury, Nissan Bashir, Hadi Obeid, Lujain Ghneim, Mofida Al-Deyoub, and Wasim Al-Humaidi.