We Are Iraqis: Aesthetics and Politics in a Time of War

2. Bifurcations of Iraq’s Visual Culture

5 2 Bifurcations of Iraq’s Visual Culture Nada Shabout There is certainly much to be said about the destruction of history and heritage in Iraq during the past century. Such a discussion, however, becomes particularly significant to the years of sanctions and following the US-led invasion. The extreme and sudden disintegration of Iraq’s cultural institutions and structures following the 2003 invasion , with its short- and long-term ramifications, presents an unprecedented case. I focus here on Iraq’s visual art production; what has been historically known as fine arts (painting, sculpture, photography, graphic designs, etc.), both in their private and public forms. This chapter covers a number of theoretical and practical implications of the situation as it affects the production of Iraqi art. In his reevaluation of the process of decolonization and the creation of the new state and citizen, Albert Memmi writes, “For a nation to exist it must have a common vision to enable it to develop internally and, externally, win its place among other nations, against them if need be” (2006, 54). In the period between the 1940s and 1960s, Iraqi artists contributed actively in creating this vision. Moreover , they actually succeeded in extending the collective national vision to the visual language of their art. Memmi continues, saying : “The decolonized nations are like the children of aging parents, born weak and suffering, the fruit having dried before it has had the chance to mature” (ibid.). While Memmi’s metaphor serves as a visual, it does not problematize the complexity of postimperial material realities. 6  Nada Shabout The modern nation-state project as imposed and enforced by foreign powers on the Arab world, however, has demonstrated its ineffectiveness in creating and maintaining a national coherence. That is certainly the rhetoric that surrounds the dismantling of the state of Iraq as it existed in the twentieth century. Memmi further explains that this “nation has come into existence at a time when the Western national ideal that served as a model has began to weaken throughout the rest of the world. It is no longer the bright new engine that led the majority of Europe into the nineteenth century” (ibid., 55). Now Iraq faces a new colonization without coming to terms with a series of unresolved issues lingering from the Ottoman and British rules, perhaps a failed nation-state, dictatorships, wars, and sanctions, imposed and executed by the world. Art and Its Institutions Art is no longer appropriately rarefied as “culture” but must be recognized as an elemental discourse within the larger societal construction of knowledge and power. —di a ne a postolos-ca ppa dona, “Discerning the Hand of Fatima” Professional art production in Iraq constitutes an important part of Iraq’s visual culture because of its direct connection to identity and, consequently, it makes up a large part of the nation’s collective memory (Shabout 2006b, 2007). More important, Iraqi artists’ efforts to construct national “Iraqi” art subsequently structured aesthetics specifically as a site of resistance. The symbiotic relationship between art and culture is necessarily dependant on vigorous connections between several important components. There is a reciprocal relationship between works of art and both production and retention. Healthy production of art is the outcome of artists’ creativity and art education. Retention, both public in the form of museums and galleries and private, is connected to patronage and exhibitions. Ultimately the sum of it all is what constitutes a necessary infrastructure and the Bifurcations of Iraq’s Visual Culture  7 history of art, which in turn reflects progress, aesthetic value, and creativity. None of this is possible without stability and support. The art infrastructure in Iraq prior to 2003 was completely supported by the government. Dismantling the existing government-sponsored infrastructure in Iraq, despite its shortcomings and state control, left artists without support. This particularly meant stifling creativity, but it also allowed misrepresentation of the country’s art history. This history is largely unwritten, locally or regionally, due to various inadequacies and the previous neglect of the Western world. However, within today’s interest in all things Iraqi, Western media has taken the liberty to define Iraqi art and publicize the image it found fit for the world’s perception of what this art should look like. In other words, Western media is currently “inventing” a new historical narrative for modern Iraqi art. Hobsbawm tells us that...