Genie Out of the Bottle, by Syrian artist Sara Shamma will be shown in this year’s Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. This will be the first time Shamma has participated in the oldest and most-deep-rooted art show in the world, having moved to London in 2016 under the auspices of an Exceptional Talent Visa. The chosen painting forms part of Shamma’s ‘London’ series, her first body of work since relocating to the UK. The series draws inspiration from her early experiences of London as both an artist and mother. Shamma decided her first work in London should explore and celebrate the spirit of imagination and possibility, embodied in children. She strongly believes that children who are encouraged to express themselves freely and without fear of reprisal, to embrace the full playful exuberance of discovery each day, will grow to perpetuate the values of peacefulness and freedom which form the strongest bulwark against civil strife. Sara Shamma commented: ‘Happy children will beget more secure adults, who do not readily fall prey to becoming tools in the hands of those who would manipulate their grievances to destructive ends. Whilst they may not be a guarantee against violence and war, they are in my opinion, a prerequisite for democracy, and with it any hope for abiding peace.’ Shamma’s practice focuses on death and humanity expressed mainly through self-portraits and children painted in a life-like visceral way. Her works can be divided into series that reflect often prolonged periods of research, sometimes extending over years. Shamma believes that death gives meaning to life, and rather than steering away from a subject that is increasingly taboo in contemporary culture, she considers the impact of grief and deep internal emotions. The Syrian conflict has a distinct impact on the way that Shamma portrays her subjects. Working mainly from life and photographs, she uses oils to create a hyper-realistic scene, using transparency lines and motion to portray a distant and deep void. Running continuously for 250 years, the RA Summer Exhibition is the world’s oldest art exhibition, the works are selected and hung by Royal Academicians who also exhibit works in the exhibition. In this celebratory anniversary year, the exhibition will be coordinated by Grayson Perry RA and will be the biggest in its history, spilling out from the main galleries across the newly expanded cultural campus ‘the New RA’, and it will run from 12 June to 19 August 2018.