Sharjah24 - AFP: Hundreds of ceramic doves are suspended over the streets of the Old City of Damascus, part of an art installation that had been set to debut before the start of Syria's war.

The lifelike figurines crafted by Buthaina al-Ali, a professor at Damascus University's faculty of arts, had been gathering dust in a basement since the outbreak of Syria's conflict in 2011.

Eleven years on, the 15,000 ceramic birds are finally airbound, appearing in an exhibition curated by Ali's students on the woes of Syria's war.

The exhibition in the Old City of Damascus, curated by 16 students from the faculty of arts, is titled: "Once upon a time, a window."

The art on display deals with the displacement, hunger and helplessness wrought by the country's bloody civil war.

The students raised the doves in the courtyard of a traditional Damascene home.

The Kozah art gallery in the Old City and adjacent streets were also adorned with the ceramic figurines, some of which are fitted with small LED lights.

The doves are the centrepiece of the exhibition, which features other artworks by students.