2000s

The Islamic State and the Cultural Destruction of Iraq

by Hadani Ditmars via “Middle East Eye“

Iraq’s monuments have borne witness to and shared the hardships of the country’s long-suffering people

The latest in the surrealist horror show that the nightly news on Iraq has become offers a rich narrative – at least for a writer working on a political travelogue of ancient sites. Once again, the Mongol hordes are at the gates.

After destroying statues of a poet and a musician in Mosul, Islamic State (IS) now threatens to destroy the 2nd-century BC city of Hatra, and UNESCO has sounded the alarm about one of their world heritage sites at risk.

The Director-General of Unesco, Irina Bokova, said earlier this week, “I call on all actors to refrain from any form of destruction of cultural heritage, including religious sites. Their intentional destruction are war crimes and a blow against the Iraqi people’s identity and history.”

In one of many ironies, this well preserved example of a Parthian city that has survived centuries of imperial intrigue and invasions may fall victim to a group of angry- yet well organized and funded- young men, drunk on brutality, wired on ideology run amok, galvanized by decades of war and injustice

Hatra has more recently served as a film set for the 1973 production of the Exorcist, in which a priest discovers a talisman belonging to an ancient demon and brings it back to the US, where it possesses a young American girl.

While it’s not difficult to ascertain that the disastrous invasion of 2003 has unleashed more than it’s fair share of vindictive spirits of which IS is only one- Iraq’s ancient sites- as its people- have been long-suffering.

Iraq’s monuments bear witness to and share in the hardships of her people. After years of war and occupation, historic sites have been badly damaged and neglected. While the Taliban’s destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan in Afghanistan was universally condemned, outrage about the destruction of Iraqi and indeed world heritage (not to mention the fate of Iraq’s people) has been somewhat restrained.

As Muwafaq al Taei – who was an architect under Saddam but an unrepentant communist who was simultaneously lionized and spied upon by the ancien regime and then almost killed by US troops after the invasion – (and my erstwhile travel companion on my journey to Iraq’s ancient sites) always says, ‘you have to understand the past to make sense of the present.’

I was inspired to write my next book Ancient Heart when Muafaq took me on a tour of sacred sites in Baghdad, in the midst of sectarian war zones, garbage dumps and displaced people’s camps. It reminded me of the last scene in Planet of the Apes, when Charlton Heston sees the Statue of Liberty half-submerged on the beach.

As I write this I am looking at a map of ancient sites in Iraq. Most maps of Iraq in the popular imagination are divided into three neat sectarian sections, or filled with bullet point punctuations on the evening news.

I am convinced of the power of this map. If applied correctly, it may just transform people’s consciousness. I want people to see Iraq for what it is- whether American generals or IS commanders – to recognize the depth and soul of the land they invaded, not just as another terrorized place to be abandoned but as part of our world heritage.

My map shows Ur, the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham and the home of the Sumerian ziggurat. Saddam stationed a military base nearby, as did the invading Americans who added a strategically placed Burger King. It was once a temple to the moon god Nanna, and many moons later, its adjoining town of Nasiriyah site of the Shiah uprising, encouraged by George Bush Senior and then brutally repressed by the regime, while the US stood by.

(more…)

Guinness World Record: 100 International Female Street Artists Mural

by Vidar via “Street Art Utopia“

By Miss Hazard.

“Femme Fierce, the largest all-female street art event in the UK is dedicated to unearthing and highlighting the best of the burgeoning female artists on the street art scene. Coinciding with International Women’s Week, Femme Fierce is a celebration of women that create art in studios, lurk in dark alleyways, scale roof tops, enter abandoned buildings and add colour to the grey concrete walls that make up our cityscape for the love of the covert and oft-maligned world of street art and graffiti.” Femme Fierce.

In Leake Street Tunnel, south London, England.

(more…)

Culture and Carpets: Discovering Turkmenistan Through Its Art

“Culture and Carpets: Discovering Turkmenistan Through Its Art “

by Jessica P Hayden via “GoNOMAD“

As we drove down the tree lined streets, we passed rows of tiny, one-floor houses that sat just yards away from the road side. I watched through the window as children scurried from one side of the road to the other, playing what appeared to be a game of tag. Women, dressed in brightly colored textiles, were gathered at the corner of one street, watching their children, gossiping.

We were headed to meet Gurban, a local carpet dealer, at his house in Ashgabat. My husband and I had flown to Turkmenistan for a long weekend.

While many regions along the Silk Road produce unique carpets, Turkmen rugs have become well known in the West, due to their high quality and beauty. The art of carpet weaving has been handed down from generation to generation and is central to the Turkmen culture. Each tribe has its own specific patterns and symbols which represent aspects of life which hold great importance.Since moving to Central Asia, our friends had repeatedly advised us, “You must visit Ashgabat if you have the chance – it is like nothing you’ve ever experienced or are likely to experience again.” Part of this fascination with Turkmenistan comes from the unique political system and president who posts his portrait on every available wall space in the city. But the bigger allure for us was the chance to explore a land with ancient cultures and traditions that was once part of the Silk Road.

The Silk Road runs through Central Asia and was a major trading route connecting the West to the East for hundreds of years. In fact, it was the famed traveler, Marco Polo who was the first to mention Turkmen carpets in the 13th century.
Gurban and his family have been selling Turkmen carpets for years from their house and in the Tolkuchka bazaar (the Sunday market). As we entered a Spartan yet beautiful courtyard, a sea of carpets covered the concrete floor. The deep red and orange rugs gave such an aura of warmth it was hard to not feel immediately welcomed into their home.

Gurban invited us into his house for lunch and offered us a feast of chicken, plov (traditional Central Asian rice dish) fruit, fresh juices and tea. We sat on the floor, chatting with our new friends. The smaller children played hide and seek with us, peeking their heads in the door, smiling and flirting. In the corner of the room a black and white television played a video-tape of a recent family wedding. The new bride now sat beside us, holding her new born child and pregnant with her second.

Fine Art Comes of Age in the UAE

by Suchitra Bajpai Chaudhary via “Gulf News“

Dubai: The month-long art season in Dubai that concluded last week demonstrated the maturity and coming of age of the art market here, further establishing Dubai as the regional art hub.

Several record-breaking auctions were conducted dring the season. With over 60 art galleries and museums in the city, viewing and buying art has is now an established part of Dubai’s cultural agenda. The scope of this development over the last eight or nine years can be gauged from the fact that in a span of a month, Dubai now hosts an active art calendar with the Dubai art week, Design days and Sikka art fairs all happening simultaneously.

“ It is phenomenal how Dubai developed into the art space in the past eight-nine years.” Hala Khayat, Head of Sales at Christie’s, UAE.

“Art is an alternative asset and does not replace traditional assets. It is used to alleviate the risk in your traditional financial portfolio. When stocks and bonds go down, art goes up.”
” This synergy has attracted art curators and galleries from around the world to display and interact here. This has helped Dubai evolve into an attractive art trade market.

All major auction houses and art fund houses have opened offices here and have been doing robust business. This is proof that good art sells at a high price and there are as many buyers in the market here as sellers.

The Pharaoh’s Collection of Modern Egyptian Art, expected to sell for around $1.4 million (Dh4.68 million) made $3.89 million (Dh 14.03 million). The top lot of the sale, also from the Collection, was Abdul Hadi El-Gazzar’s (Egyptian, 1925-1965)Construction of the Suez Canal which sold for $1.02 million, a new world auction record for the artist. . . . .”