Our opening party yesterday was fun but no beer or wine was served, which was a bit strange for a European artist. An older local artist invited me to his studio to have a drink. He told that one of his colleagues, his fellow student in the University, was killed by the rebels two weeks ago. He went to the funeral but didn't feel like going into the mosque. His friends asked why. He told that it was because he is Christian. The group of artists had been together 40 years but they had never spoken about the religion. It's not something the Syrians ask each other. That is a great example of the secular multi-religious society, that most of the intellectuals are now defending against the fundamentalists - independently if they love president Assad's regime or not. This Syria should be an example for the rest of the world.

Syrian national TV came to the opening to interview Nisrine and me. The journalist talked with me before filming and encouraged me to be critical with the government and stated that there is no freedom of speech in the country but he will let me say anything I want. I told that in these circumstances I support the government. He was upset. He couldn't understand my position and told me that as European I should talk for democracy and capitalism. In the interview he didn't ask me about politics. He was right, I had no freedom of speech in Syria.

Later, we had dinner at a terrace in the old town, drinking arak and listening to shooting and explosions far away.

Today we have been finally installing the exhibition East West Banana Split that will feature works by Nisrine and me. Nisrine shows her new amazing three-channel video Above 47º (from the Halal series), milk bottles titled Wet Dream and a jar of 2 Litres of Compressed Bananas. The Wahhabists have banned the whole bananas as too phallic for women. If the Islmist revolution supported by the Gulf fundamentalists triumphs, the Syrian women - Sunni, Shia, Alawite, Catholic, Orthodox, Maronite, Druze, atheist -  can begin to think how to drink their bananas as smoothie under their burkhas.

I'm going to show Super Size Happy Meal Series, The West Is an Orientalist Joke (Arab Street Hookers) and then I'll do in the opening reception the performance The Rise and Fall of the West - I'll burn party decoration flags of EU, USA and other Western entities.

In the evening I lectured about my practice to local artists and then I went to Domino to smoke shisha, drink beer and watch Spain's victory over France. Alone of course, all my colleagues and friends escaped to their homes before the nightly riots. I live in the old town and it's safest place in the city. I can almost cheat myself that everything is all right.

The all-new Rio 2012 brings Kia’s successful combination of world-class styling, outstanding fuel economy, advanced technologies and tremendous value to the smallest and most economical vehicle in the Kia line-up.

A white Kia Rio is also the fastest way to the paradise - it's the favorite car bomb of Islamist terrorists in Syria. I've been told to get away when I see one of these vehicles parked.

Friday is the free day in the Muslim countries. The streets are empty in Damascus but not because of people are having picnics in the countryside but because they are afraid of going out. The rebels' violence peaks on Fridays.

I walk around the city taking photos of the posters of the candidates of the parliamentary elections held last month. I try to hide my small camera from the soldiers that are patrolling in every corner. Abir said that now it's not a good idea to take photos in public but I need to do my new work called Syrian Democracy.

I'm also planning a sculpture that would consist of a white Kia Rio covered with tomato ketchup. The title will be Rio de Sangre (Spanish) = river of blood.

Abir has organized an intensive cultural week in the city. On Wednesday, we celebrated Mahmoud's opening in the Maktab space and today was the turn of the closing party of Mosaic group show at All Art Now.

The culture is necessary during the hard times. The 872 days of the siege of Leningrad in the World War II caused a famine that resulted in the deaths of up to one million and half civilians. After all birds, rats, and pets had been eaten by survivors, cases of cannibalism were reported. Meanwhile the opera and the ballet of the Hero City were still performing. On the 9th of August 1942, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad" was performed by the Radio Orchestra of Leningrad. The score had passed the German and Finnish lines by air. The concert was broadcast on loudspeakers placed in all the city and also aimed towards the enemy lines. This date, initially chosen by Hitler to celebrate the taking of Leningrad can symbolizes the reversal of the dynamics in favor of the Red Army. This is why I came here - I want to be the Shostakovich of Damascus.

Terrorists win when they cause terror in people's minds. After the events everybody's hurrying to their homes. The rebels' take the streets in the midnight and begin shooting. The police doesn't do anything, maybe they are too scared or these are the orders of their superiors. The islamist rebels kill anybody they suspect of supporting the government and the secular constitution.

We can't begin the installation of our exhibition tomorrow because the Fridays are too dangerous to go outside. My fellow artist Nisrine and our curator Abir will be trapped in their suburban homes.

I'm lying on my bed in the Suleiman Suite of Beit Al Mamlouka in the old town. The luxurious room with a six-meter-high ceilings and a fountain in the five-star boutique hotel is normally priced 300USD per night and now I got it for 60 dollars. Not a bad place to stay but I'd prefer less high life for myself and more peace for the Syrians.

I had a walk and sipped a beer in my favorite bar, the small place decorated with posters of semi-naked girls in the biblical Straight Street. The old town seems to be very much the same as I left in September, when the city was already empty of tourists. Last year I was photographing pictures of president Assad on the shop windows but now they have vanished. The rebels are imposing forced strikes and have killed shop owners. Anyways, there is no feeling of a danger - no army at the airport, no checkpoints in the road between the aerodrome and the city, no police in the streets. The same border police, who doesn't speak English, had the same questions that the last time. Journalist? No no no. I showed a letter in Arabis written by Abir that tells that I'm here to support Syria, not to fight against it.

I was reading The Jordan Times during the flight from Amman and the horoscope promised me a good luck. I'm going to believe it.