On 28 May 2016, the programme of the Days of Yemen and Syria in the Hermitage continued in the space of the Public Forum in the General Staff.
On the ground floor of the General Staff there was a display of 24 photographs entitled “Syria. Architectural Masterpieces of the Past”. They were taken in 2009 by Alexander Dymnikov, a member of the Union of Artistic Photographers of Russia, and show a still peaceful Syria, pictures of cultural monuments that survived for millennia and have been lost in recent years.
On the same day, a programme took place in the Public Forum that had been prepared by the State Hermitage’s volunteers and allowed visitors to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of ancient Palmyra. It consisted of a demonstration of holograms of five edifices in Palmyra destroyed in 2014–15, the computer game “The Market of Palmyra” inspired by the famous Customs Tariff kept in the Hermitage and opportunities to assemble a model of the Temple of Bel and to colour a miniature version of the sculptural Lion of al-Lāt.
One of the central events of the day was the prize ceremony for participants in the computer graphics and animation competition “Palmyra: breathing in life!” that was organized by the Hermitage’s School Centre jointly with the volunteers.
