This study is based on material collected during extended periods of research in the Syria from 2007 to 2010 and examines the work and conditions of production for young visual artists in Syria during the period 2000 – 2010, the first decade of Bashar al-Assad's regime. The young generation of artists, who came to fore during that decade sought to negotiate a space for individual artistic practice by using contemporary artistic media and forms of expression. Often rejected by their art school teachers, they attempted to re-define the role of the artist in society and articulate social and even political critique in their work, thereby inscribing themselves into the tradition of critical and socially committed art in Syria. Intent on pushing the boundaries for permissible speech, they were often hindered by censorship and had to recur to metaphorical languages, like previous generations of artists.