“Perhaps it is time to flip the page. Flip it, not tear it. The stained pages will still be there, and the tragedy should always be remembered. But the next pages, hopefully gleaming with a brighter future for culture in Iraq, should eagerly be anticipated.”

Publication: “Al-Mutanabbi Street: Locating Contemporary Iraqi Culture,” Jadaliyya (June 2, 2013).

Keywords: exhibition, review, destruction, explosion, loss, mourning, commemoration, books, library, literature, culture, contemporary, art, artists, poets, writers, Baghdad, Iraq, South West Asia, Arab world

Image: Amin Alsaden