Saturday, February 25, 2023

Artistic resurgence in Iraq?

Winthrop Rogers (AL-MONITOR) reports:

Paintings with messy lines of black and grey with splashes of green and red cover the walls of Tara Abdullah’s studio on the top floor of Sulaimaniyah’s old tobacco factory. Kurdish lettering and motifs of femininity and masculinity are prominent. More delicate pencil portraits peek from an alcove in one corner. 

Abdullah plugs in a small space heater to ward off the winter chill in the industrial cavern, apologizing about the mess of electrical wires, sound cables and paint cans strewn about, left over from her most recent project. 

“It’s my dream place,” she said of her studio, where she has worked for the past 10 years. “Everything I’ve ever made here, it’s all part of a big web that helps create the new artwork I’m trying to do.” 

Sulaimaniyah is frequently referred to as the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s “culture capital” and is a young city by regional standards. It was founded in 1784 and has attracted poets, musicians, merchants and political activists ever since. In 2019, it was designated a UNESCO City of Literature. Its warrenous bazaar and park-studded downtown feel alive and timeless compared with the ersatz Dubai under construction in Erbil, the Kurdistan Region’s political capital. 

The city also serves as a base for painters, sculptors and graphic artists who take advantage of the growing infrastructure of galleries, studios and training programs where they can hone their craft and exhibit their work. 


With talk of an artistic resurgence in the Kurdistan, it's worth noting Elissa.

 





Elissar Zakaria Khoury (Arabic: إليسار زكريا خوري; born 27 October 1972),[1] commonly known as Elissa (Arabic: إليسا), is a Lebanese recording artist.[2] She is one of Lebanon's most famous singers,[3] and one of the best-known artists in the Arab world.[4]

She has been among the highest-selling female Middle Eastern artists since 2005. In 2005, she became the first Lebanese singer to receive the World Music Award for Best Selling Middle Eastern Artist, an award that she received again in 2006 and 2010.[5] She has currently sold over 30 million albums worldwide.[5][6][2] Elissa is also one of the richest celebrities in Lebanon, with a reported estimated wealth of over $40 million.[7] As of 2019, Elissa has over 50 million followers on social media.[6] In 2018, Elissa appeared as a judge on The Voice: Ahla Sawt, the Arab edition of The Voice. 



Lebanese superstar Elissa will perform live at the Duetto hall, in Erbil, Iraq, on Monday, March 20.

She is set to present several of her popular and latest songs.                                                                                                                                               


 

 
In other news, kidnappings are increasing in Baghdad.  This week, RUDAW reported on one:


The distraught families of two young girls - both cousins - who were found dead just 12 hours after they were abducted over the weekend in Baghdad, called on the Iraqi government to hold those responsible accountable. 

Aya Hassan 6, and Fatima Abbas 7 were kidnapped by three suspects in Baghdad's Jamila area on Wednesday.

Just 12 hours later, their dead bodies were found, 25 kilometers from the capital’s Sadr city.

"First of all, we are calling on the state, the interior minister and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and all the relevant authorities that just like how they [the murderers] burned our heart, they must be handed over to us," Hassan Majid, the distraught and sobbing father of Aya told Rudaw over the weekend.

The suspects were arrested on Thursday and the families of the murdered girls call on the Iraqi government to execute them as soon as possible.


Some are e-mailing regarding Nina Turner's new YOUTUBE program.  I've been noting it here.  I wasn't aware, until after streaming that it was part of THE YOUNG TURKS network.  I don't endorse TYT and never have.  I will continue to note Nina's program.  We noted Nina throughout the 2020 campaign for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination -- repeatedly reposting her Tweets.

I'm not interested in who you should vote for and I'm not interested in pimping out votes.  Any segment that by its title appears to be pimping will not be noted here.  I don't have time to stream everything.  When Nina herself was running for office, I did not take sides. I couldn't vote in the election and had friends who were for Nina and friends who were for Shontel Brown (who won).  You didn't see pro-Nina videos or pro-Shontel videos up here. (A friend who has her own YOUTUBE program and was very pro-Shontel was upset that I would note her show but not those videos and I explained to her that I wasn't getting in it and she understood.)  I'd really prefer we focus more and more on issues -- especially in those years that aren't presidential election years.  

I'm not interested in who Nina wants me to vote for.  I am interested in issues. That'll be the basis for what gets highlighted from her show.


The following sites updated:







 
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