Tammam Azzam: DUBAI, United Arab Emirates

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Inside the gallery, artworks by Syrian artists were drawing auction bids from collectors. Outside on the street, the artists traded the latest gossip from Syria and checked their smartphones for news from the civil war. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. The Syrian refugee diaspora now at 2 million and growing has fanned out across the region and beyond for more than two years from tent camps in Jordan to others trying to rebuild lives in cities such as Beirut and Istanbul. But the Gulf states present a paradox: Deeply involved in the war as some of the strongest backers for the Syrian rebels yet holding firm to tight entry controls that effectively block most refugees. In this Monday, Sept. 16, 2013 photo, auctioneer Hisham Samawi, left, auctions a piece by the Syrian artist Tammam Azzam, titled "Syrian Olympic," which appears on the monitor, right, during an auction at Ayyam gallery, that moved from Damascus to Dubai in late 2011, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The auction Monday in Dubai's evolving art district served as a window into a small but forward-looking effort to save one niche of Syria's artistic community with no end in sight to the civil war that has already claimed more than 100,000 lives. AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili So goes the divided world for a cadre of Syrian artists brought to the safety of Dubai by their gallery to continue their work but still remain deeply connected and influenced by the bloodshed they left behind. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.