“The task of thoroughly taking stock of Iraq’s tribulations since 2003 is daunting, if not impossible; and to limit a discussion of the occupation’s repercussions to one field only, such as art, is to risk trivializing the grave consequences of an event that continues to haunt Iraqis today.”

Publication: “Unvanquished: Amin Alsaden on Iraq’s art under two decades of occupation,” Artforum (March 2023). 

Keywords: art, contemporary, modern, modernism, research, survey, overview, war, conflict, attacks, 1991, Gulf War, 2003, invasion, occupation, coalition, American, US, army, military, troops, interference, meddling, intervention, history, past, present, 20th, anniversary, aftermath, crises, turmoil, tragedies, suffering, trauma, destruction, death, toll, crimes, ISIS, terrorism, looting, burning, museums, libraries, archives, locals, diaspora, displacement, refugees, colonialism, imperialism, neo-colonialism, oil, extraction, environment, concealed, suppressed, resistance, defiance, paintings, drawings, videos, sculptures, installations, heritage, Arabs, Muslims, global, world, dynamics, protests, demonstrations, strife, injustices, infrastructure, ecosytem, artistic, culture, interruption, disruption, crumbling, collapse, Jewad Selim, Rifat Chadirji, Latif Al Ani, Shakir Hassan Al Said, Mehdi Moutashar, Suad Al-Attar, Hiwa K, Hanaa Malallah, Rheim Alkadhi, Sajjad Abbas, Ali Eyal, July 14th, Revolution, Liberty, Freedom, Tahrir, Monument, Baghdad, Iraq, Southwest Asia (”Middle East”)

Image: Hanaa Malallah, Artforum International