Iraqi Protest Art and Alternative Visions of the Past

Project Type: Phase 1 Projects - Commissions (2021-2022)

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Description

Synopsis and Position

Recent political events in Iraq, including protests, have seen artists and activists engage in artwork produced to represent alternative visions of the country. Whilst thousands ofartworkhave been produced to contest Iraq’s politics, those images and representations have not been analysed or documented. Taken together, they represent the collective memory of Iraq’s youthwho have sought to craft a politics free of sectarianism,corruption,and religious dogma.

Objectives and Methods

The project is designed to create an archive of artwork and artist perspectives associated with political expression. A bi-lingual website will showcase how artists have used the rich histories of Babylon, Sumer and Assyria as well as Islamic representations to explore how art is deployed in negotiating narratives of Iraq. Interviews with Iraqi artists, including in the Diaspora, who have produced artwork, will be interviewed and their perspectives will be integral to documenting recent events in Iraq.

Workshops and Events

An end of project webinar is planned.

Activities

A bi-lingual and interactive website has been produced which will act as an archive of art and protest in Iraq. See the full https://tishreen.org/ website. This project was designed and implemented by Liwan, an Iraqi NGO, to create an archive of artwork and artist perspectives used in Iraq’s October 2019 protest movement. A contentious topic and one that will likely to be forgotten in the foreseeable future, those events in Baghdad and other cities witnessed hundreds of thousands of youth engage in demonstrations, which has been depicted by the production of a new body of artwork. The project aims to create the first archive of its type, documenting art experiences and the artwork they have produced as a form of counter-narrative through an exploration of how the past and art is negotiated. The project interviewed artists to discuss new constructions of the past (and alternatives visions of the future) and promote non-sectarian narratives about Iraq. This project will tell an important part of Iraq’s recent history through cultural production related artwork that looks at the country’s cultural heritage and culture more generally. ”During the protests, it was the only time we really felt we are Iraqis. This is when we felt like we have a country, fellow citizens, brothers, and sisters. The feeling is indescribable”. Iraqi Artist from Baghdad.

Legacy IF page:https://imaginingfutures.world/projects/iraqi-protest-art-and-alternative-visions-of-the-past/