Team
Peter Kasim
Born in Dubai to Syrian parents, Peter moved to London as an infant, where his earliest memories became imbued with the vivid imagery of graffiti and the aesthetic of inner-city urban decay.
Influenced by his parents, both graduates of Damascus University with degrees in Art, Peter grew up surrounded by creativity. His childhood was filled with drawing and exploring vast collections of art books, alongside political cartoons from both the UK and the Middle East.
These early influences naturally steered Peter toward a career in animation, a field that allowed him to merge his passion for art with storytelling. Concurrently, he dedicated himself to mastering formal artistic principles, refining his skills in charcoal drawing and oil painting at one of the UK’s leading classical ateliers.
Peter’s work boldly blends traditional representational art with the dynamic, expressive qualities of graffiti and caricature, both in static and animated forms. PAKD marks a significant milestone in his journey, serving as a vibrant platform for cross-cultural collaboration and the further evolution of his artistic voice.
Alex Anderson
Alex Anderson is an artist from the United States. He earned his B.A. in art history from John Cabot University in Rome, minoring in philosophy. His studies brought him into contact with contemporary art and art criticism, the final catalyst for his decision to pursue visual art professionally. From 2015 until its closure, Alex was contributing arts writer for KCMetropolis.Org in Kansas City. He sees his effort to create and write about others’ works as a way of life that he hopes inspires and helps others. In the past he has enjoyed assisting students in the execution of their work as a studio assistant while developing his own portfolio.
In fall of 2020 Alex completed a Master of Letters in Sculpture at The Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. There he began making work in reaction to the stones on the foreshores of tidal lochs on the Isle of Skye. Currently he makes work in response to the Sonoran Desert landscape of the USA, and the coastal landscapes and dunes of Northeastern Brazil. His interests centre upon sculptural art practices and investigations of landscapes in relation to memory, climate science, classic literature, poetry, and phenomenology. Focusing on wind and the concept of nostos (νόστος).: he explores the grief of homecoming, the arduousness of the journey, and the bittersweetness felt at actually arriving, in addition to the many interpretations, functions, and uses of wind.
Alex shares a studio and gallery space in the West Bottoms of Kansas City called 3 West. In co-founding PAKD Gallery Berlin, he is eager to participate and offer his skills in an artist run, artist led space that operates upon principles he believes is a way forward for a supportive artistic environment and gallery model.
Kifan Alkarjousli
Born in Hazzah, Syria, Kifan Alkarjousli’s early life was steeped in the cultural heritage of his homeland. He marks the third generation of artists in his family. His grandfather was a sculptor, and his aunts and uncles studied art, creating an environment that nurtured his passion from a young age.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Damascus in Swidaa in 2014. Forced into displacement in 2015, Kifan emigrated due to Syrian Civil War. By 2018, his migration halted, having arrived in Berlin as a refugee. Here, Kifan continued his education, taking a master’s degree in Art Education from Universität der Künste Berlin.
For two and a half years, Kifan owned and operated the Werkkunststudio, a successful art studio and gallery in Wedding, Berlin. There he nurtured the talents of other aspiring artists while also using the space as his own studio.
His work points toward to the frailty of memory, and the understated beauty within the everyday, or commonplace. His paintings and sculptures inspire reflection on impermanence, and subtlety of human experience. Merging his own distinct style of realism and symbolism, he handles a delicate combination of themes regarding migration, identity, memory, love, and loss. The works’ contents are imbued with Syrian symbolism and iconography; all reference to his upbringing, displacement, and recent integration into German/Berlin life.
Kifan leads numerous drawing and painting workshops throughout Berlin, sharing his expertise in a wish to foster the vibrant artist community. Building on his experience and successes, Kifan expanded his vision together with three other artists, co-founding PAKD Gallery in Berlin. His life and career lends well to the creation of a space suited to showcase a diverse range of artists with an emphasis on cultural exchange. And he approaches this with an acute awareness of the difficulties one faces in achieving their aims artistically, or otherwise.
Dani Hasrouni
Dani Hasrouni is a visual artist from Syria. He received his Bachelor's degree in Visual Communications from the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Damascus in 2013. His multidisciplinary work spans art, design, photography, and calligraphy. Additionally, he has been concerned with the documentation and preservation of the diverse facets of Syrian cultural heritage, with emphasis place upon its modern developments.
Immediately after his formal studies, Dani was appointed by the dean of the academy as a substitute lecturer where he taught first year students in the Visual Communications department. His career has broadened beyond his own work. Extensive practise in his fields as well as his personal experience has made him acutely aware of art’s transformative and healing potential. He has facilitated workshops for child refugees from Syria and has organized other similar workshops with friends in Damascus, amongst other cities. In these workshops, art was implemented as a therapeutic tool to address the psychological after effects of war.
In 2016 Dani moved to Berlin. Immersed in the city's pulse and cultural scene, his interests expanded into street photography, and an exploration of themes such as diversity and innovation within urban spaces. Additionally, he is working on a long-term documentary film project that illuminates multiple narratives through street musicians, and uncovers their rich and diverse stories as part of the fabric of Berlin's cultural melting pot.
Dani currently works at one of Berlin's well-known communal art galleries, Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, which has deepened his understanding of the city's cultural landscape in both practical and conceptual terms. And now, in co-founding PAKD Gallery Berlin, Dani looks forward to extending his expertise in sustaining a platform designed to assist more artists, musicians, and cultural practitioners on their journey of positive change and contribution.