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Description: Archival digital print of original oil painting. One of edition of five.
Painting origin: I was commissioned to create the painting by friends (students) at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, to reflect my country of Iraq-the cradle of civilizations. Because MIIS is an educational institution, I approached the piece from an educational angle. I picked the winged bull symbol to be central in the painting as a way to place the context of the painting in the role of knowledge and education as a factor how civilization rise and fall. This ancient Mesopotamian symbol spoke to me for a variety of reasons: the old man face, with a beard, representative learned knowledge; the wings symbolize the ability to roam and conquer (as a civilization); and the body of the bull, to me, represents strength. I felt these three things in this one creature would embody the spirit of civilization as the centerpiece to my work. The painting gives a quick view of two ancient writing styles, the Sumerian and Arabic in Mesopotamia (right and top, respectively). Many of the first laws were written on stones and a great heritage was kept through writing, yet this is ever evolving field and doesn’t stop-it can’t. Knowledge is forever growing and changing; the older knowledge a civilization has must adapt and become a bridge to a new era. If it doesn’t, then cracks appear in the foundation-things begin to crumble.The Arabic calligraphies in the work are letters that, if summed up, represent words like, “change”, “science” and “education”. The lines of the crack in the wall actually spell out the word “knowledge” in Arabic, which throughout the centuries has been the engine for change. Whenever new knowledge appears, it creates cracks in the old system of a society and the civilization must adapt.Why Al-Mutanabbi street?To me al-Mutanabbi street brings back so many memories of my early childhood in Baghdad. My dad would take me to al-Mutanabbi street to buy books and stationary-and of course has some delicious traditional Iraqi food. Both the books and the food were often so unique you couldn’t find it anywhere else in Iraq. My love for the street lasted into adulthood; even when I started college I would get most of my books there.Al-Mutanabbi Street has always been a space for Iraqis from different backgrounds, ages, races, religions, and socioeconomic statuses to come together and- in fact- feel liberated by listening to poets in the street or finding literature on a wide range of topics…from sex to religion. If you couldn’t find the book you are looking for displayed in stores or the stalls in the street, they could still get it for you- you just had to ask (even fi the book was prohibited by the government).I submitted this painting in relation to this amazing market space in Iraq because as al-Mutanabbi street is a plaza of knowledge, bringing the people of a civilization together, its health and survival is an indicator of the stability and growth of a civilization. If there are cracks in the foundation of a civilization, it would most certainly show up in places like al-Mutanabbi.
Created By: Alnawar, Hassan
Contributor(s): Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Coalition
Source: http://iuidigital.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/AMSSH/id/979
Collection: Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Coalition Collection
Rights: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Copyright: In Copyright
Subjects: artists book
art
bookworks
letterpress printing, prints

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