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Iraq Representation of Iraqi Identity in the Works of Sadik Kwaish Alfraji

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Iraq Representation of Iraqi Identity in the Works of Sadik Kwaish Alfraji Picturing “My” Iraq Representation of Iraqi Identity in the Works of Sadik Kwaish Alfraji MA Thesis presented to Leiden University Middle Eastern Studies Department By Astrid Bodini, s1578693 Supervisor Dr. Tsolin Nalbantian SUMMARY INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................................3 IDENTITY AS A NARRATIVE..............................................................................................................................4 RELEVANCE.......................................................................................................................................................9 STRUCTURE.....................................................................................................................................................11 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND........................................................................................................................13 LIFE IN BAATHIST IRAQ.................................................................................................................................14 The nature of the regime: sovereignty and governmentality.....................................................................14 The Baathist public narrative......................................................................................................................15 The war according to the regime............................................................................................................15 Freedom according to the regime...........................................................................................................17 IRAQ AFTER THE 2003 US-LED INVASION....................................................................................................20 The US discourse of war and freedom in Iraq............................................................................................20 War and freedom lived in Iraq....................................................................................................................22 WAR.....................................................................................................................................................................25 IRAN- IRAQ WAR IN SADIK ALFRAJI’S ARTWORKS......................................................................................27 Embroilment................................................................................................................................................28 Soldier’s Rest...............................................................................................................................................30 THE 2003 US-LED AGGRESSION IN SADIK ALFRAJI’S ARTWORKS............................................................33 In the Name of Freedom.............................................................................................................................34 Made in USA...............................................................................................................................................37 Born April 9th and You Can’t Erase the Traces of War...............................................................................39 FREEDOM..........................................................................................................................................................44 FREEDOM IN IRAQ IN SADIK ALFRAJI’S INDIVIDUAL NARRATIVE.............................................................45 Biography of a Head...................................................................................................................................48 The setting...............................................................................................................................................49 The head..................................................................................................................................................50 The insects...............................................................................................................................................51 The body..................................................................................................................................................53 Seven Days in Baghdad..............................................................................................................................55 Ali’s Boat.....................................................................................................................................................57 BELONGING......................................................................................................................................................62 THE DISAPPEARANCE OF IRAQ......................................................................................................................62 SADIK ALFRAJI’S IRAQ..................................................................................................................................64 2 ID Sketch.....................................................................................................................................................65 Elegy of Malik Ibn al-Rayb.........................................................................................................................69 Hold On To Your Memory..........................................................................................................................74 CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................................79 EPILOGUE..........................................................................................................................................................81 BIBLIOGRAPHY...............................................................................................................................................85 3 INTRODUCTION «Painting is a state of being,» affirmed American painter Jackson Pollock in 1956, «Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.»1 Along this line, this thesis investigates how identity can be represented through artistic practice by focusing on the works of Iraqi artist Sadik Kwaish Alfraji. Through the analysis of thirteen artworks produced between 1982 and 2014, I will explore how the artist conceives his Iraqi identity and fashions it within his creations. This work shows how Sadik Alfraji’s “Iraqi-ness” evolves throughout time and how it relates to the contemporary history of Iraq. My goal is to demonstrate how the portrayal of crucial events in the history of his homeland reveals what “being Iraqi” means to the artist. Sadik Alfraji is always part of his artworks and represents Iraq according to his personal view. As he states, «there is always something of me in my works of art. I am in both the ideas and the concepts.»2 Additionally, Iraq, particularly Baghdad, is constantly present on the canvas, too. «There is always Baghdad in my artworks,» the artist stated.3 Even when the audience does not visually “see” Iraq, it is part of the artwork. For example, in the series Elegy of Malik Ibn al-Rayb, the country is not visible in the artwork because it does not belong to the present, but it exists in different space and time period. As I will explain later, the 2003 US-led occupation and the following civil war has destroyed and transfigured Iraq. The lack of recognition of what Iraq has become makes the artist believe that Iraq has disappeared, and that it is he who can only find it within himself and in his memories. 1 Jackson Pollock quoted in “Revolution in Paint,” in Selden Rodman (ed.) Conversation with Artists, New York: Capricorn Books, 1957, p. 85. 2 Interview with Sadik Alfraji, Leiden, 22nd February 2016. 3 Interview with Sadik Alfraji, Leiden, 24th March 2016. 4 The bond and identification between the artist and Iraq will be highlighted through a narrativist approach to the study of identity. Specifically, I will consider identity as embedded in a narrative which engages with other narratives in a relation that can be of inclusion or exclusion. I will analyse the portrayal of Iraq that makes up Alfraji’s individual narrative to understand which relation exists between the artist’s narrative and other narratives of contemporary Iraqi history. The correlation between Alfraji’s and other narratives determines which position the artist occupies within the broader narrative of Iraqi history. This position, which results from the artist’s individual narrative, shows to what extent the artist perceives himself as an Iraqi and part of Iraq, becoming the “benchmark” of Sadik Alfraji’s Iraqi-ness. What this thesis will demonstrate is that Alfraji’s position and identity are the result of an interplay of an “inside and outside” of Iraq, both in literal and metaphorical terms. For instance, the artworks created during his life in Iraq reveal how, due to the difficulty to recognize himself inside of the dominant Baathist discourse, the artist was placing himself virtually outside of Iraq. As he recollects, «I was feeling like a stranger when I was living in Iraq.»4 Conversely, Alfraji’s representation of post-US aggression Iraq shows how the artist perceives himself as part of the Iraqi narrative, while being physically outside of the country. For example, in Born April 9th the artist projects
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