The persisTence of The iMage: dhaKira¯ hUrra in dia azzawi’s drawings on The Massacre of Tel al-zaaTar

saleem al-bahloly

When Dia Azzawi published the drawings he made on the massacre of Tel al-Zaatar, a Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut, on August 12, 1976, in a book of silk-screen prints titled al-Nash¯ıd al-Jasadi, or The Body’s Anthem, he presented them as a form of memory, which he set over and against both the elegy and the document:

[The drawings] are not to mourn nor are they to be a document of a dark massacre; rather they are an expression that attempts to cre- ate a free memory [dh¯akira hurra] that persists against oppression [iniha ta’bir yuhawwal khalq dh¯akira hurra tatawasal dhid al-qhur] until the time comes when its fl ame will burn forth brilliantly, a time that will summon the blood of friends and brothers, hasten- ing the advent of those coming from the gates of martyrdom; a time when the nation will be as bread, unpolluted by blood and dirt, a space unhindered by black deceptions and nets of disguise, a beautiful time when feet will move safely and men will not sell their dreams.1

1 Artist statement, in Dia Azzawi, al-Nash¯ıd al-Jasadi: Qasa’id marsumah lil-Tall al-Za’tar [The body’s anthem: Illustrated poems for Tel al-Zaatar] (Beirut: Dar al-Muthallath, 1980).

© 2013 ARTMargins and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology doi:10.1162/ARTM_a_00048 71 72 artmargins 2:2 anthem], 1979.Silk-screenprint,65∞cm.Imagecourtesyoftheartist. Dia Azzawi.Ahmadal-Zaatar–MahmudDarwish,fromal-Nash¯ıd al-Jasadi [Thebody’s fragments, that strain against the rope binding them, and that in the the in that and them, rope binding the against strain that fragments, of mass out reach from that that hands the in discerned, be can limbs severed among which fragments unidentifiable of mostly mass tangled look of muted the horror, in the in body: on the effects its in instead or manifest representedbut is seen be it cannot that magnitude such ( persists that a memory as drawings his towith create he sought memory the described Azzawi tatawasal of memory, operation the to describe uses verb Azzawi the pret on how depend we inter will instantiate, they politics and art between relation the and refugees, of Palestinian massacre of the aftermath ( free apart, existing yet not it, recursive, oppression.with Contemporaneous against standing capable oppression violence of and se, butof amemory a memory per The drawings portray a human figure bya confronted force of figure ahuman portray drawings The . hurra tatawasal ). How we understand his drawings in the the in drawings his ). How we understand oppression ( ) against dhid al-qhur dhid ). Not - 2 of death. its injustice the possible to visualize it becomes from which of vision angle an producing anamorphosis, an as literally functions that avision into body embattled this transform drawings the moment at it, the of annihilation, Holding its visible. of rendered afaceless violence are operations the upon which surface mere the is form or density, human its and depth no ontological sesses pos body The image. an only inscription, pictorial to its prior even is itself, figure human this that indicates drawing composition the in of lines the with body the in of fracture lines coincidence of the The annihilation. of own its animation but the nothing to be shown is form human This composed. are drawings the from which lines it the into to fracture it appears that body on the apressure such exerting within, from him seizing him, force through The rips of capture. hopeless pathos the express for and freedom impulsively grasp gesture same anthem], 1979.Silk-screenprint,65∞cm.Imagecourtesyoftheartist. Dia Azzawi.Ahmadal-Zaatar–MahmudDarwish,fromal-Nash¯ıd al-Jasadi[Thebody’s (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013). Press, Chicago of University (Chicago: Psychiatry Islam, Madness, Soul: the of Knots Pandolfo, Stefania esp. see violence, of acritique and arepresentation creating in image the of function anamorphic the On 1978). Norton, York: (New Psycho-analysis of Concepts Fundamental Four The Lacan, Jacques and 1977) Abrams, N. York: Harry (New Anamorphoses Baltrusaitis, Jurgis see anamorphosis, On 2 On the brink of collapse, brink the On - 73 al-bahloly | the persistence of the image 74 artmargins 2:2 ate a “free memory.”ate a“free it possible to is cre which within of suspension astate space of waiting, a image—as of the operation this Tatawasal is surpassed. be and visible token of become same oppression the by could experience where the time in aprojection opening, an such itself was image to come. The of a justice horizon the within time, in of opening a kind space was this recorded. Rather, of aggression nor acts dead mourned were the neither space, that In massacre. eventof the historical space removed from the a establish drawings the expression, oppression.” of aesthetic act an As al-qhur dhid tatawasal phrase of the sense the is dreams.” This their not sell will men move and safely will when feet time of “a beautiful direction the beyond it reach in could it,” they that against “persist could drawings reflection. dismembered own its with it blinding of itself, image an aggressor at back its reflects body the Paradoxically it was by producing an image of oppression that the of oppressionthe image that an producing by it was Paradoxically , which I translate as a “persistence” of the image “against “against image of the a“persistence” as Itranslate , which [The body’santhem],1979.Silk-screenprint,65∞cm.Imagecourtesyoftheartist. Dia Azzawi.Left. . . Toward theMountofOlives–Yusef Sayigh,fromal-Nash¯ıd al-Jasadi - the document, the of capacities evidentiary of the limit at violence, and the of catastrophic was taken from the poem by Darwish, “Ahmad al-Zaatar,” which offers “Ahmad offers al-Zaatar,” which Darwish, by poem from the taken was Anthem Body’s The series, of the name The Jelloun. Ben Tahar and Yusef Sayigh, Darwish, Mahmud by poems three and grief, with ing heav survivors and camp,photographs of corpses of the history short a included that abook in drawings, ink twenty-one with along Beirut, in published then and al-Riwaq gallery at the Baghdad in exhibited were were made, which prints Eighteen massacre. the survived had who camp the in some order money in children to raise for the prints, of silk-screen collection edition alimited drawings produce from the to offering approached Azzawi, al-Muthallath, house, Dar publishing Lebanese void. The of arepresentational context the were produced in of bodies. piles andcamp,the of ruins the siege survivors, were a few fifty-two-day end of ata the remained that no photographers; all were no witnesses, June, In at Tel massacre. iconic of the there became al-Zaatar, man afaceless gun with pleading elderly woman of an Françoise Demulder Aphotograph by event. the were presenttographers to document pho and journalists and were spared, women children and witnesses; however, were there Then, port. the near at Karantina acamp stroyed de- had Beirut, demography of East to consolidate the moving tias, mili War. Christian Civil January, In Lebanese the during destroyed ancient. the and Islamic the traditions, both it exceeds artwork, modern the within created article, this in explain I as And, of Mesopotamia. epics ancient from the also derives image memory- But this thread. from amore obscure though tradition, of this aderivation also is withdrawal acritical to execute expression aesthetic of possibility very the and tradition, Islamic from the part in derives memory-image this horizon, eschatological from its evident is As ary. liter and at once theological ancient, yet and modern profoundly case, 3 Joanna Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige, and Jalal Toufiq. Jalal and Joreige, Khalil Hadjithomas, Joanna Raad, Walid as such writers and artists Lebanese contemporary some of work the of think also might one regard, this In 2008). Press, Chicago of University (Chicago: Auschwitz from Photographs Four All: It of Spite In Images Didi-Huberman, Georges notably See If the image is often sought as a form of memory in the aftermath aftermath the in of memory aform as sought often is image the If Made two years later, in 1978 and 1979, the thirty-nine drawings drawings later, 1978 years thirty-nine in 1979, and Made the two be camp to refugee Palestinian first not the Tel was al-Zaatar 3 the memory-image in Azzawi’s drawings is a particular aparticular is drawings Azzawi’s in memory-image the , - - - - - 75 al-bahloly | the persistence of the image 76 artmargins 2:2 structure of text was displaced into the visual form of the image. In In image. of the form visual the into displaced was of text structure temporal the which in image and text between arelation it was Rather marsumah— qasa’id book— of the subtitle the as It not one relation. was of illustration; liar apecu into image and put text method ofrepresentation violence. This it double could it acritical as so that evacuate then and form human the to model him enabled Narrative anarrative. it in emplotting by ure fig ahuman to construct practice his For it been had years drawings. massacre. the by void left representational the in generate meaning to Jelloun, Ben Tahar and of Yusef those Sayigh like struggled, poem Darwish’s al-Arabi, of Ahmad narrative mythic this By composing body: his He offers guillotine.” on the decide they and funeral his prepare they Gulf, to the ocean from the ocean, to the Gulf the “from hunted: is Ahmad symbolic, the in existence identity, an an Yet, without to anonymous itself. existence fighters.”an and is It to thyme ofgives fire,”birth rounds that who two camp ina “grows up between thesea, in of existence exiled “one anonymous the personifies Ahmad butterflies.” the among forgotten for “anthem Ahmad, an as itself Azzawi used these narratives to conceive the human figure in his his in figure to conceive human the narratives these used Azzawi siege come. the door for the everyone—let is My chest Besiege you you besiege I will the siege come of fire—let line the I am siege come the ramparts—let the be My will body siege come the al-Arabi—let Ahmad I am concealed me. and ridges out their threw mountains The drove me and away passed clouds The avolcano it by identity, hit yet is and an He wants before withdrawing. world, the into him bringing is Twenty mother his years Twenty he roamed years Twenty he asked years opposite his with met Ahmad everything In in a few seconds on a banana leaf seconds afew on abanana in indicates, the drawings were themselves poems. poems. were themselves drawings the indicates, - - phic fragment. phic anamor the producing relation, into text and put image that formula It that was doubled acritique. as that a way Iraq,in and in life modern of pathos the for articulating aformula in Gilgamesh finding mately ulti forms, for hermeneutical literature popular in to search Azzawi brought that form and of history understanding his in of shifts a series motion in set encounter This present. for the allegory an as to function past from the of forms capacity the demonstrated that Haidar, Kadhim artist, of work aset encountered another by Iraq, Azzawi violence in repression. political contemporary of context the in of critique ameans as resuscitated be could eras other from of expression forms which through time in opening an creating to history, relation aparticular established East Middle to the painting of modern introduction the which one in way I hope to demonstrate painting, modern in formula of consolidation this the Bytracing form. atragic as to function reemerges at period alater that affect ancient a formula of pathos ( of pathos a formula Gilgamesh epic of the areading in nates origi formula anamorphic The refugees. of Palestinian massacre the for of intelligibility how ameans as it operates drawings, the in does anamorphosis this work that intellectual the orderbut in to understand poems, the and Anthem Body’s The in drawings individual the between relationship the 1960s,order not in to detail the during Iraq in mula figure to function as a portrait of an unjust violence.unjust an of portrait as a function to figure it human possible for makes the is, drawings—that Azzawi’s phosis in accomplishes anamor that the painting in fragment metonymic this of the production anticipate. is It they signification the or aform—and asignifier— as appearance moments: their two between operation metonymic their suspending isolated, are fragments these image, visual the into Displaced of reading. act cohere the in that fragments of metonymic achain across over time, unfolds representation text, Ba‘th Party, the officers fought Qasim and those who had stormed those hadwhostormed and Qasim fought officers the Party, Ba‘th of members the by led days, two next the Over Qasim. Karim of Abdel the government against rebelled themilitary Iraqi in group of officers a holy of of month the Ramadan, middle 1963, the 8, in February On Baghdad, 1963 Just out of art school, in the aftermath of an episode of horrific of horrific episode of an aftermath the in school, Just out of art My purpose in this article is to trace the development of this for development of this the to trace is article this in My purpose Pathosformel ), the condensation or imprint of an of an condensation), or imprint the . It is what Aby Warburg called . It what Warburg is Aby called - - - - - 77 al-bahloly | the persistence of the image 78 artmargins 2:2 5 4 mass disillusionment with political parties and a recoiling from the from the arecoiling and parties political with disillusionment mass in and resulted identification of national framework any destroyed It violence of 1963 etiology, effects. its the Whatever decisive had of the price of food. price of the regulation his and he built, projects housing the helabor passed, laws for Qasim the who poor lionized urban of the mostly consisted defense this Party, Iraqi Communist of members the by organized part in and spontaneous part In defense. his in of Baghdad squares and streets the Qasim to establish a permanent government after the revolution. the after government apermanent to establish Qasim Karim of Abdel regime of and the settled be could disagreements political which within institutions todemocratic develop monarchy the desert. the in graves mass in buried and raped, were tortured, prison held in of Many those facilities. holding into converted to be had clubs letic ath and cinemas that arrested of being people number alarge such in resulted spot, on the shooting to house house, sometimes going squads death with ensued, that manhunt The of Baghdad. streets the roamed squads For death months Party. Iraqi Communist the opposition, the coupin in 1963. culminating 1959, in finally Kirkuk and Mosul in particularly conflict, devolved armed into quickly disagreements Political opposite directions. in pulled confessionsand whose interests ethnicities multiple other, included Iraq each with interaction little had had previously that of provinces Composed unity. of Arab politics the over fractured monarchy to the opposition groups in different united revolution had 1958, the 1921.front in that in the But Basra and after Baghdad, of Mosul, provinces Ottoman former three out offormed the of was Iraq state when the installed had British the amonarchy throw racial, and family violence, and so on in an infinite regression. infinite an so on violence, and in family and racial, monarchy, of the tribal, in 1959,prisons in the in Kirkuk and Mosul in of violence, forms reiteration of earlier the as explained been also has (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978), 951. 1978), Press, University Princeton (Princeton: Officers Free and Ba’thists, Communists, Its of and Classes Commercial and Landed Old Iraq’s of AStudy Iraq: in Movements Revolutionary the and Classes Social Old The Batatu, Hanna 1969). Press, University Oxford (London: 1958 of Revolution the since Politics Iraqi in AStudy Iraq: Republican Khadduri, Majid See A few years earlier, the officers had worked with Qasim to over Qasim with had worked officers earlier, the years A few This violence has been explained as a result of the failure both of both failure of the aresult as explained been violence has This primary their moved to eliminate coup, Ba‘thists the the Following 5

4 It - -

91.4 ∞127cm.BarjeelArtFoundation, Sharjah.ImagecourtesyofMeemGallery. Kadhim Haidar. Fatigued, Ten HorsesConverse withNothing,1964.Oiloncanvas, freedom of despair.”freedom later, years “the Nader called, Sami Suhail critic what into the riority, inte aprivate into retreated violence. Artists from political resulted that pathos the how 1963 to formulate problem the became Iraq. After in art amodern establish could that vocabulary how toaformal develop been 1950s problem problem the In anew the had of posed expression. this for of artists one’s elimination enemies—and the became Politics state. 6 life. of everyday from scenes he fabulated personality that painted He then personality. a it with imbuing it, interpreting imagination, his in life that recast he would of Baghdad, streets what went the on in in interested was he though and of Baghdad, University at the literature He studied had life. of popular acharacterology as described be watercolor might that produced and work oil in for 1959, London in Before leaving Kadhim Arts. of the College Central at the design theatre studying been had from London where he returned Haidar Kadhim artist the year That Mar he t of pic E The (Baghdad), March 22, 1975, 6. 1975, 22, March (Baghdad), Al-Jamhuria expression], of freedom and culture [Experience, al-ta’abir” hurriyat wa al-thaqafa wa “al-Tajruba Nader, Sami Suhail 6 yr t - 79 al-bahloly | the persistence of the image 80 artmargins 2:2 So little of that tradition survived, however survived, tradition of that So little based. be could painting of modern apractice a precedentupon which provided had painting of miniature tradition tence of amedieval exis the indicating manuscript of a13th-century discovery accidental 1941 but the of Mesopotamia, civilizations ancient site of the the Iraq posed. to be came painting, European in not exist did problem one and that of form, a particular intospace a where transformed was officers the by introduced painting of representational type the returned, students study. When these further for to Europe students officers’ the sending later and schools its in them to teach enlisting painting, officers’ retired the in took interest of Iraq state new of the government The to others. informally taught ahobby, as they which of painting type this to practice continued cers offi former these Baghdad, in retirement their In of reconnaissance. aform of as representation technique this learned had they Istanbul, in College theMilitary at Trained military. Ottoman the in officers by century of the turn at the to Baghdad introduced been had painting Landscape civilizations. of earlier arts to the relation in ate time, it in worked Iraq to in situ art of modern apractice to establish attempt his Iraq. in artwork modern of the paradigm new a inaugurated paintings the Art, of Modern Museum National new the Mulhammat al-Shahid Mulhammat title 1965 the under in 1950s. of the Exhibited art modern with work, but also earlier own Kadhim’s not with only abreak constituted paintings these mented, sedi been had atheology and ahistory which into representation of acomplex in structure were embedded motifs these as but insofar life, popular and literature in interests earlier Kadhim’s consistent with was painting into motifs these Transposing of motifs. chain lished estab to an according of Karbala Battle the recount that formances per processions, theater and readings, of poetry “mourning”—consist taziya the to as referred martyrdom, his mourn that rites The community. Islamic the to rule caliph unjust of an right the to recognize for refusing at Karbala century 8th the in abattle in killed was Husayn Prophet Muhammad, of the grandson The Husayn. Imam of the martyrdom commemorated the that rites mourning popular of from aset motifs onto canvas transposed that of paintings series On the one hand this problem was historiographic. Not only was Not was only problem historiographic. was this one hand the On 1951 who in in set Jawad by been Salim, had paradigm earlier The Upon his return to Baghdad in 1963, Kadhim began work on a began 1963, in Kadhim to Baghdad return Upon his The Epic of the Martyr the of Epic , or The —and what did was in in was what did ­—and —Arabic for —Arabic - - , at - - - - [ apparent form tothe develop was point later. years “The several view inter work an in the to explain used Kadhim vocabulary the in evident is form in shift The produced. was but on asublayer where meaning painting, of the visuality the in surface, on the situated ger aesthetic, no it lon was ashift; underwent form Martyr the of Epic But The in ing. dead. was Salim and 1963 dictatorship, it in ended had war. By civil low-grade into revolution collapsing the was Baghdad, center of the in Square, over Liberation erected being monument was ation of something in ancient Iraqi art, particularly Sumerian art.” Sumerian particularly Iraqi art, ancient in ation of something [ design al-Hurriyya Nasb tion, torevolu commemorate the he designed abronze frieze in minated cul art of modern challenges ethical and to resolvehistoriographic the tion of the paintings in terms of developing al-haya of developing terms in paintings oftion the produc the described , but Kadhim word Arabic for al-shakl is form The 9 8 7 world)the old.” some is years 20 in some oldest works of of art possesses the (which Iraq in art modern of history Jabra: Jabra “The Ibrahim critic the by formulated paradox atemporal in them trapping and modernity, of aware their tiginously ver artists modern gap, making seven-century intervening the frame to precedentwas of the effect the Petersburg—that Saint and Paris could be imaged. be could Baghdad in life which with vocabulary formal asingle ancient—into and modern traditions—both aesthetic from different elements grated inte work that aresolution, producing by to attempt and paradox, this designer furniture, pop magazines, and erotic pinups. erotic and magazines, pop furniture, designer photographs, of family from that painting of modern function the of distinguishing than tradition Islamic the in image of issue the an less was of Iraq. This culture visual to the relation in artwork modern problem the the of how to situate art, modern by posed lem of form al-haya Alif Ba Alif in Interview 1974). Information, of Ministry (Baghdad: freedom] of monument the and Selim [Jewad wa-Ara’ih Atharih fi Dirasah al-Hurriyyah: wa-Nusb Selim Jewad Jabra, Ibrahim Jabra in reprinted (1951), 491 al-Ahali Sawt painting], of renewal [The fil-Rasm” “Tajdeed Salim, Jawad 1961), 1. Iraq, of Republic the of Embassy (London: Today Iraq in Art Jabra, Ibrahim Jabra This was also the paradigm within which Kadhim had been work been had Kadhim which within paradigm the also was This He was also the first to address the ethical dimension of the probdimension of ethical the to address first the also He was ]: the figures and the horses were subjected to principles of to principles the horses subjected were and figures ]: the fikrat al-tasmim fikrat , 1982. The Monument of Freedom of Monument , or The ] . . . more than that, the repetition is acontinu is repetition the that, ] .more than 7 Jawad Salim was the first to address to address first the was Jawad Salim , which refers to an refers to an , which . However, the as 8 Salim’s attempt 9 -

------81 al-bahloly | the persistence of the image 82 artmargins 2:2 with Nothing with TenConverse Horses Fatigued, content. in For emotional example, their reference, releasing narrative their exfoliated that reduction of aesthetic to akind were subjected motifs these painting, into Transposed gealed. con had memory cultural aparticular which in symbols dense cally ing effect on painting, importing into it the symbolic structure in in structure symbolic it into the importing on painting, effect ing acorrespond had transposition this painting, into transposition their in schema, narrative from their were displaced husayniyyat from the motifs of 1963. the If pathos the where to express it available becomes painting, the into content motif of the affective the reference, releasing to suppress historical functions landscape nocturnal the context, rative a nar providing by motif the of Instead staging multiplied. is and line out horse white reduced to is an of the motif the of grief, its immensity the by forced if abstraction into As necks. their strain they that violent so groans dry horses emit nor The moon. sun neither as tinguishable body, ared by dis studded sky agraphite and earth of blue-gray posed 10 literature. into ing seculariz buckled, narrative the that taziya), the in participated people (never so many had transformations political economic,and social, produced by of suffering forms new by so overwhelmed been had tive Martyr the of Epic The made when mid-1960s, Kadhim the By expression. offind successive could generations suffering the which through allegory an as functioned of Karbala Battle of the narrative the husayniyyat the In life. of contemporary grief the butanother, also from one to generation legacy, prophetic the transmitted of losing grief the original with not only filling were to swell, made dilated, became battle of the events historical the Husayn’s poetry the In death. of injustice the order in to mourn of Karbala Battle from the sodes epi recounted that Iraqi Arabic, popular in poetry, of elegiac tradition husayniyyat of the tradition poetic the in ries over centu constituted been had taziya from the imported motifs the work. of the level on adifferent located the horses—was and figures of the motifs (plural)—the ashkal or of al-shakl status what the had that suggesting appearance, outward Karbala: A sociology of Shi’a discourse] (London: Dar al-Saqi, 1999). al-Saqi, Dar (London: Shi’a of discourse] Asociology Karbala: Tara Haidari. Ibrahim See Thus the motifs were not simply aesthetic forms but hermeneuti forms were not simply aesthetic motifs the Thus This shift in the nature of form was a consequence of the fact that that fact aconsequence of was ofthe form nature the in shift This , a cluster of horses is set on a nocturnal landscape com landscape on of anocturnal horses set is , acluster 10 ̄ jı ̄ diya ̄ al-Karbala ʼ ̄ : Su ̄ siyu ̄ lu ̄ jı ̄ . The husayniyyat was a was husayniyyat . The ya ̄ al-khita ̄ b al-shı ʻ ̄ , this narra , this ı [The tragedy of of tragedy [The ̄ ------11 as symbol. a the tomartyr first had the work with been public saturated discourse, no one seemed to remembermartyr he that context of the in Iran-Iraqthat the War,Azzawi the of when figure the piece todespaired andHaidar sold. every to came exhibition, the Still, had stayed away Centre forfrom reasons Iraqi the political Cultural largein to numberslate emigrate the in 1970s.begun Many people who center diasporic the for for world,Arab the Iraqis, especially who had work orderin Londontreatment.timethat his to By finance had become for exhibition an where him Centre London,in he arranged could sell of Iraqidirector the Cultural who artistic the afford, then was Azzawi, from cancer and wentsuffering to London for treatment hethat couldn’t fromhad excluded been Haidar it. In early the 1980s, when was Haidar historiography had expansive an emergedIraq. art, on Though this Haidar’s in lished essayan work of situating art modern history the in present. for the allegory an be could how to see history differently, history to see him roundup 1963, work the in Haidar’s brought during prison in months two spent had and school, out just of he art was But, now that Arts. of Fine Institute at the classes night taking of Baghdad, University the at archaeology studied had Azzawi to history. relation its and artwork about the for al-Wasiti to how think formative at he Riwaq came was work his and Haidar with interaction Azzawi’s London. in done while work he had exhibited Haidar Kadhim year where and that Baghdad, central in Mathloum Ali Said and Makiya Mohammad architects the by opened recently al-Wasiti, atgot Riwaq agallery ajob working 1964,he in of Fine Arts Institute from the graduated Azzawi Dia After His forms. expressive of of areserve status present for had the the past the wherein to history, relation allegorical same the in painting putting painting, in structure this It generalized pathos. contemporary expressed motifs the which left a prominent mark in the history of the modern modern of the history the in mark aprominent left Martyr the of Epic of the exhibition “The tragedy: of contemporary asymbol into martyr icon of the of the transformation this in Martyr the of Epic of The cance t Interview with Dia Azzawi, March 2011. March Azzawi, Dia with Interview In the essay Azzawi wrote about Haidar, he located the signifi the about he located Haidar, wrote essay Azzawi the In Years pub later, Azzawi had died, Haidar ten almost years after ory as Allegory 11 - - 83 al-bahloly | the persistence of the image 84 artmargins 2:2 1960s, Azzawi wrote, 1960s, Azzawi of the context the in Martyr the of Epic The essay,another situating one. In of acontemporary affect able was the to bind tragedy ancient 14 13 12 out tragedy.” cried that [ concept of the martyrdom were complicated,making that stances circum cultural and movement political Iraq; held in in it was art infused the modern artwork with the inherited affect. inherited the with artwork modern the infused so Doing life. of contemporary content pathos that the to bind used content, but rather it of affective its not evacuate did of martyrdom concept out of the asymbol Making followed. that insecurity political of 1963 the and experience the capable of expressing asymbol into cept con that to convert was achieved Martyr the of Epic slaughter. WhatThe eventof Husayn’s ancient from the forms, unjust those through transmitted affect, memory. inherited It an was or cultural social of level on the level, it resided on forms, adeeper those dom exceeded concept But of the martyr forms. poetic and ritual in itself manifesting taziya, the in dramatized it was ayear Once viewed. to be something not was surfaces, not it have did visible life, of scenes everyday unlike and properties; aesthetic it lacked sculpture, or Assyrian architecture Islamic Unlike for forms. search their in not sought previously had ists istishhad 5, no. 4 (1992): 91, emphasis added. emphasis 4(1992): 91, no. 5, Faradis consciousness], artistic an of flourishing The sixties: [The al-tashkili” al-w’ai Izdihar “al-Sitinaat: Azzawi, Dia 1966). 8 (August no. 13, al-Adab Fanniyya,” Mulhaathaat wa “Rasid Al-Ruba’I, Majeed Rahman Abdul and 1965): 12; (July 41 al-Naft fi Amiloun al- Baghdad], in season art past [The Baghdad” fi al-Akheer al-Fanni “Al-Mousam Sa’adun Fadhil, See work. the of affect tremendous the on commented time atthe Critics 69. 1(1994): no. 1, Nsus Haidar,” “Kadhim Azzawi, Dia sometimes in epics. in sometimes and depths metaphysical in sometimes for vision, anew search al-sha’bi dan [ emotion popular with charged forms canvas, of the structure to the transferred and tradition from popular taken work, forms art the into else something to introduce tried Haidar] [Kadhim 1950s. of the up artists by taken subjects other the and suqs cafes, of Bedouins, common went subjects beyond the that subjects sort, of this for need subjects coup aspiritual of was 1963, there bloody followed the conditionsthat complicated political the In ], stripped of any religious meaning, a contemporary symbol symbol acontemporary meaning, of religious any stripped ], ]. . . . Kadhim’s works incited the young artists to artists young the works incited .Kadhim’s ]. 12 This concept belonged to a tradition that art that to atradition concept belonged This 14 13 The affect of an of an affect The al-wij ------and an understanding that the identity of people is their literature. their of is people identity the that understanding an and inheritance 1950s of the 1960s, aconsciousness Iraq’s and ing textual ( ture litera or popular “folklore” called to be coming then what was but in it to reside “religion” not in understood Azzawi Husayn, Imam of the slaughter the with century, 8th the in of Islam, prophecy loss of the the in originating loss of justice, of the asense was affect this Even though 15 remains. through up late, of too shown sifting of having time, of experience produces acertain up brought for observation, being of something sense the objectivity, works, their of these character experimental The itself. coherence any artwork lack beyond the ings paint Azzawi’s in which fragments, into collapsing integrity, their lost now had forms once sought had artists the from which traditions the if It as is color backgrounds. out brilliant by blacked have been Baghdad of images the and expired, has life to render contemporary attempt the But works,do Azzawi’s wherenot produce in forms arepresentation, Iraq. in art for modern vocabulary to aformal develop Jawadby Salim it as were, be, light. held up to the can they space upon which onto a up, excavated piled if as of fragments, status have the forms the them In were speculative. exploratory, investigations These masses. aesthetic into were arranged where on they solid coloredset surfaces and isolated folktales—were and architecture, Islamic amulets, rugs, objects— cultural of various forms ornamental of Iraq. The identity formal the to decipher “compositions,” attempting of forms astudy workof takweenaat he showed mostly The consisted exhibition. Martyr the of Epic of The exhibition before the al-Wasiti, 1965, at Riwaq shortly end of February At the Dia Azzawi field field of signifiers. but ahomogenous civilizations of discontinuous not achronology into ordered texts, but through artifacts onehistory, accessible not through of dimension up adifferent opened Martyr the of Epic done,had The Jawad by Salim established paradigm earlier the as traditions, logical archaeo of the instead tradition literary from that material By drawing Baghdad Observer Baghdad “Folklore,” al-Kamali, Shafeeq See Azzawi’s compositions mark the closure of what we might call the the call of what we might closure the compositionsAzzawi’s mark begun project to the epilogue an as seen be might paintings These al-adab al-sha’bi al-adab consciousness had emerged dur emerged had consciousness ). Anew, literary , Dia Azzawi had held his first solo first held had his Azzawi , Dia , February 21, 1968. 21, , February , or 15

- - - - 85 al-bahloly | the persistence of the image 86 artmargins 2:2 tragedy and the conception of the whichartwork with it was bound up: Muzaffar Nawab in the late 1960s, he described historiographythis of pathos of contemporary life in Iraq. In an theinterview with poet expression that could be reactivated in painting as formulas for the Azzawi soughtmemory in werecultural not forms visual but means of ­tradition could be interpreted as an archive of forms of tragedy. What Martyr bodya cylindrical modeled on Sumerian figurines. appear, it often did so as a ghost of itself, in silhouette, constructed with the scene for the appearance of a figure. Whenthat figure would in fact the formal masses began to consolidate into floating landscapes, setting and NightsThousand One imagination surrounding the icon and like oftexts the martyr and began to explore modes memory, of cultural such as the popular From the mid-1960s on, Azzawi moved away from the archaeological they opened a dimension of meaning that reduced painting’s visuality. were hermeneutical, not aesthetic, and when instantiated in painting, for contemporary life. These were forms of a very different they type; of forms in literature that could be worked up in painting as an allegory face. center of their the in set eyes enlarged and feet, torsos, heavy tubular their with figurines, of Sumerian frame squat to the drawn particularly He was archaeology. in studies from his knew he already which Museum, Iraq the in objects out the he sought that field of forms his order It in to expand was photographic reproductions. black-and-white representedby art, of European version history of the atruncated and models to live limited was possibilities of those range the class In learning. he was techniques of the possibilities formal to the him have exposed would that magazines and books access to art he didn’t have of Fine Arts, Institute at the astudent When he was decay. of their half-life the in radiant forms, were simply aesthetic they to Iraq. For Azzawi art of modern introduction adox the by created par aresource temporal to solve value, the historiographic have for him not did traditions These before him. years afew just sought had artists ­ archaeological ancient Iraqi tradition, in a religious and social sense, asserts itself itself asserts sense, social and areligious in Iraqi tradition, ancient of an part is of tragedy, which theme .The Iraqi present. the or Iraqi tradition to either not is strange victim notion of the The The Epic of The the Martyr established aphilosophy certain of history in which a cultural traditions. He did not seek in them the same thing that that thing same the them in not He seek did traditions. . He continued to produce compositions, but demonstrated the existence of a vast domain The Epic of The the The The - 16 victim and executioner. and victim of vocabulary amythologized apprehended through was prisons in ture of tor experience of 1963. The aftermath to the referring he was time” of our “issue the is victim” the into human of the “transformation the Nawab that with interview the in claimed Azzawi When of truth. arepresentation as functioned victim passion of the the which one in but victim of the not understanding apassive was This martyr. of the modalities one of was the Iraqi tradition the in victim idea of the The his own finitude. finitude. He own givenishis a companionthe by gods,andthenthat forced to confront being by rule of his nature rapacious for the plined literature. in afigure but as Museum Iraq the in found to be object an Gilgamesh studies”— gave to “mythological way studies logical archaeo couple these years, next the Over motifs. of ornamental strip in a fixed motionless, out quizzically, looking bust, in mesh appears Gilga- ink, in sketched studies, one and on the In Gudea. Gilgamesh athariyya dirasat showed three al-Wasiti compositions, 1965 at in Riwaq to the Azzawi addition In The EpicofGilgamesh representation of truth. representation of a loss into pathos the to turn of Husayn, example on the modeled politics, its was That occur. could transformation asite wherewas this artwork The of truth. arepresentation into victim the transforming by dehumanization of that experience the forresources redeeming 1997), 24. 1997), al-Mada, Dar (Damascus: al-‘Iraq fi al-sitinat Jil al-hayyah: al-Ruh Azzawi, Fadhil See canvas into a witness [ awitness into canvas the itto possible transform becomes that my such work, in directly the human [ human the of transformation The over to death. given martyr of the feet the [ of untruth splitting the become he has rather executioner; sword of the the helpless beneath knees, no on is longer his victim [ time of our issue the is Husayn, new a to be human of the acceptance the opposite,and his into mation In the epic of the same title, Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk, is disci is of Uruk, king the Gilgamesh, title, same of epic the the In tamazaq al-zayf tamazaq —in which Gilgamesh was rendered not in the modality of modality the rendered not in was Gilgamesh which —in al-insan ] even in his death. his in ] even 16 ] into the victim, which is to say, is transfor which his victim, the ] into The Iraqi tradition, Azzawi insisted, offered offered insisted, Azzawi Iraqi tradition, The sh¯ahid , or “archaeological studies,” two on two studies,” , or “archaeological ] of the tomb or the flowers placed tomb flowers placed at ] of or the the mas’ala hatha al-‘asr hatha mas’ala dirasat mulhamat mulhamat dirasat ]. But the But]. the - - - - 87 al-bahloly | the persistence of the image 88 artmargins 2:2 17 companion pens to him—such that “little importance is attributed to the self.” to the attributed is importance “little that to him—such pens what is hap narrative—he through hero epic how constructed is the tice [ tice jus of aloss of political feeling the us gives realism, of historical limits beyond the going by that, opposition literary asplendid creates divine, source is their if even and however adversities, many by not deterred [ adventurer of the model “[T]he wrote, he epic, the in articulated is of injustice experience how this analyzing law. aspace outside the in essay an In struggling injustice, political of avictim as hero Gilgamesh the interpreted Azzawi epic, the Reading death. own of his fact the with companion but beloved also loss of his Dia Azzawi. Gilgamesh, 1966. Ink and charcoal on paper, 52 ∞ 32 cm.

2–6. 1968): 81 (December Naft fil Al-Amilun legends], Babylonian and Sumerian On man: and [Poetry al-babiliyya” wa al-sumuriyya Fial-asatir al-Insan: wa “Al-Sh’ir Azzawi, Dia Collection of the artist. Image courtesy of the artist. bi-faqdan al-‘adala al-siyasiyya al-‘adala bi-faqdan is taken away, leaving Gilgamesh to deal not only with the the not with only to deal away, Gilgamesh taken is leaving ].” 17 In the essay Azzawi focused on focused essay Azzawi the In al-insan al-mughammar al-insan ] who is - - in which the human figure emerges as an anamorphosis of violence. of anamorphosis an emergesas figure human the which in enables of amode figuration how narrative to understand came Azzawi that of injustice, portrayals epic in work on of the narrative research, this in visionat was back oppression It of a itself. reflecting injustice, of image an becomes being very his own, of his forms any Lacking refusal. persistent his by hero epic oppression, constituted is the this complicit in itself law is the source and Where oppression adivine has he endures: injustice of the indictment and doubles amanifestation as portrayal faces, his he challenges the through he characterized is because And human. the of figure universal for amodel as the function heroties,” can the quali particular or rendered with not is “he individualized Because cessible to human reality, that supports it. supports that reality, cessible to human inac legality, the and power worlds of of tyrannical the rejection of human nucleus the comprises and man, oppressing god to the achallenge as and powerfully appears this negativity, its Despite spite [ their maintain they that enough is it Rather activity. specific any entailing position this without oppression [ acomplaint as against appear [ being human of the features [T]he mulamah lil-insan mulamah

Dia Azzawi. Ta’malat fi al-harb wa al-thawra [Contemplations tadhamar on war and revolution], 1969. 20 ∞ 30 cm. Published in Sh’ir shakwa al-zalm shakwa 69. Image courtesy of the artist. ] and their anger. anger. their ] and ] inevitably ] inevitably ] . - - 89 al-bahloly | the persistence of the image 90 artmargins 2:2 sionment in other Arab states, in Iraq, it authorized an unprecedented unprecedented an Iraq, it in authorized states, Arab sionment other in disillu and June of 1967 produced in Israel humiliation asense with war asix-day in states defeatArab of the spectacular and swift the If 1967 form. find can pathos and a contemporary release find can pathos aburied which within image, one, the ahollow creates in avisual into form ­literary a from translating resulting suspension, This of suspension. a state it in leaving it, isolating representation, from its form the estranged of narrative, temporality the lacks that image an in forms visual as forms these materializing then and of language, time the across where extended is representation anarrative within forms Constituting drawings. the in forms of the nature fragmentary the in fested mani is the signified and signifier the gap between the image, the sentence.of a thespan In across dispersed signification its ferred, is de- whose meaning of asignifier structure of text—the features the acquired whereby image relation, anew into the image and text drew page. of the surface white movement the across the by of line existence into brought if as unfold scenes the absence of depth, the any In areel. in if as sides, from the disappear and appear image, of the ground from the emerging instead of figures, the that is fragmentation of this effects the One of meaning. its find where it will or drawing, subsequent to aprevious beyond itself pointing each character, have afragmentary drawings the drawing, individual any exceeds that context narrative conceived are a in they Because of Karbala. Battle of the narrative the Husayn of Blood The as al-Husayn Maqtil titled drawings twenty-eight 1968 In he epic. of produced aset Sumerian from the appropriated he method narrative to the according reconceivedmartyr he the then done so, But having Husayn. was whose model amartyr as Gilgamesh Martyr the of Epic The Haidar’s by established history denounced. not be otherwise could violence that of the imprint an as him trayed por victim, passiveas a figure the of rendering instead that, ated forms gener struggle of narrative speculative in a figure ahuman Emplotting Gilgamesh of Epic took from The Azzawi method narrative The of aphilosophy within Gilgamesh of Epic The interpreted Azzawi . Each of the drawings illustrates ascene from illustrates drawings of the . Each , translated into English English into , translated —that is, seeing seeing is, —that - - - - the possibility of individual resistance, and a number of Iraqi anumber intellec and resistance, of individual possibility the fida’i the demonstrated struggle, Beyond armed state. centered on the not and parties on political not based was that apolitics for rethinking fida’i a the presented model politics, and art restore between arelation to sought Iraq in artists and 1967, when writers After negation. and of affirmation modality the in operating solitary, almost individual, state, of the framework outside the constituted subjectivity a political 1970s, press of fida’i the signifies international the in untranslated left method entailed the use of violence. use the entailed method their that existence their order It in to assert was states. Arab the vis vis-à- Palestinians of the existence the to assert of but also Israel, state of the establishment the by dispossessed been had Palestinians the of which land the not to reclaim only sought organizations liberation these Gulf, the in diaspora the in and Cairo in universities and schools secondary in Palestinians, exiled among ofof activities adecade culmination The alternative. an 1960sas emerged early the in formed had that organizations liberation Palestinian the by developed action state. of the framework side the out to reconceive attempt politics an was to reconceiveattempt politics June war, this the in states defeatArab of the by discredited been had actor apolitical as state sincethe And well. as but politics art only to reconceive of 1967, not necessary it was aftermath the in that such of 1963, terror the by from politics driven been had art after occurred rethinking This politics. and art between relationship the to rethink reasons. jobs for political from their dismissed been years previous the in who had of those reinstatement the and prisoners, ofrelease political the institutions, of democratic establishment the demand to publicly possible coup became 1963, followed the in it suddenly that insecurity political the by imposed of self-censorship years After of critique. form 19 18 political subject, the fida’i the subject, political anew , instantiated al-musallah or kifah struggle, of armed method this Though translated as “freedom fighter” or “guerrilla,” and often and often or “guerrilla,” fighter” “freedom as translated Though (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), 88, 91. 88, 1997), Press, University Oxford (Oxford: 1949–1993 Movement, Palestinian The State: the for Search the and Struggle Armed Sayigh, Yazid al-hayyah al-Ruh Azzawi, Against the backdrop of the failure of the state, a type of political of political atype state, of the failure of the backdrop the Against sought artists and Iraqi writers space new of critique, that Within 18 , 151–52. . 19 In the shadows of the Arab states, states, Arab shadowsof the the In - - 91 al-bahloly | the persistence of the image 92 artmargins 2:2 20 he identified had formula narrative the drawings, the In killed. was and Palestinians the with Iraqian hadwhoon fight gone to drawings of five issue of Sh’ir 69 first work.the In own Azzawi’s 1967 on had effect the present was the into of history telescoping This al-Hallaj: Mansur mystic 10th-century the in a precedent finding time, in back subjectivity that cast Azzawi fida’i, the by inspired was warrior as artist conception of the rior, this and war as artist of the conceiving entailed of art politicization the Though world”: the up vis-à-vis aposition of “taking terms in terms, in similar defined was ofVision,” art practice where the al-Jadida al-Ru’iyya Nahwa called statement a signing suit, followed artists visual other andfive Azzawi fida’i.Dia the of flash the individuality that in see could One one well. as political but a individuality conceived artistic was not an as just which poet, of the individuality have to the accommodate would of poetry writing 69 Sh’ir called journal anew who established agroup by led of poets was (PFLP). Palestine of Front Popular Liberation for to join the the went to Beirut tuals , where they published a manifesto outlining the ways in which the the which in ways the outlining amanifesto published , where they ‘Ammah, 1973). ‘Ammah, al- al-Funun Mudiriyat al-I’lam, Wizarat (Baghdad: Iraq] in manifestos [Art al-‘Iraq fi al-Fanniyyah Al-Bayanat Said, Al Hassan Shaker in reprinted found be It can pers. newspa Baghdadi afew in and catalog exhibition extensive an in printed was text The is revolutionary by negating the world him. the around negating by revolutionary is [ oppression against al-Hallaj another into himself transforming given, that’s all revolution, of he point the transcends focal At the revolution. of point the focal world, at center and of the at the the artist places the history across achievements of artistic culmination the [ false the in to believe to refuse desire intense his expressing the world,by in sacrifice perpetual his through living world for aspokesmen man, the and himself he makes weapon, when his to lay down who refuses awarrior is artist The politics and art between relationship the to rethink initiative The zalm ] and intellectual enslavement. For the artist is a critic, and he and acritic, is For artist enslavement. the intellectual ] and 20 , or “Towards New the , he published a series aseries , he published iqna’a al-tazayif ] . - - stark and urgent reality of lines on paper. of lines reality urgent and stark the of space, leaving of color closure evaporation the the and reduction, avisual to have workentailed seems this in occurs that events political contemporary into from history exit The row assailants. of hooded al-thawra wa harb ceived in terms of the singularity of his opposition, as in as opposition, of his singularity of the terms ceived in con is subject alone, this and Anonymous state. of the frontiers on the struggling subject political fida’i,as a of the experience historical the Husayn of Blood The in explored then , and Gilgamesh in September 1970, after the third assassination attempt, King Hussein Hussein King attempt, assassination third the 1970,September after In Hussein. King to assassinate attempting and up checkpoints ting sovereignty, set upon Jordanian to encroach began they and support, this by felt authorized fida’iyyun The Jordan. in Palestinians the with fight Azzawi—to by Iraqi portrayed the sent of waves volunteers—like world Arab that the in of support toa groundswell create was failure state of wake the of fida’iin success effect The military. Israeli the beat Jordan Valley, to the appeared in they of Karama village at the mish combat. askir in 1969, In in military Israeli the to engage tried they Jordan, in camps in operations their Basing states. defeat Arab of the the by left vacuum political moved the into fida’iyyun Palestinian The Amman, 1970 Image courtesyoftheauthor. Husayn], 1968.Inkdrawingonpaper, 20x30cm.Collection of the artist. Dia Azzawi.TheSlayingofAbbas,fromMaqtilal-Husayn[Blood , where he is splayed beneath the sun, exposed to a exposed sun, the , where he beneath splayed is , is applied to applied , is

Ta’malatal- fi - - - 93 al-bahloly | the persistence of the image 94 artmargins 2:2 destruction of the refugee camps. refugee of the destruction the to witness and the horror of death with fida’i of the confronted life emotional recorded the what is gets suspension, that In open. left era of acam shutter the like suspended, hangs that of images achain into siege of the narrative up the breaks that expectation and uncertainty of asense with suffused is journal the next, happen what would ing know without made was entry each Because else. recorded something that account it of margins the person, on first the composed in nal, a as was jour it But, military. the andJordanian fida’iyyun the between 1970 September Massacre, Jordan (A 1970 aylul Sh¯ahid Youmiyyat sh¯ahid al-‘asr: min hatha al-Urdun, majzarat fi qutl titled abook in text the with along drawings 1972 the he published Husayn of Blood The in with experimenting he been had method to the according of drawings, to produce aseries journal the used Azzawi Amman. in camp Jebelrefugee siege Hussein of the the during Bassam afida’i by kept named ajournal published al-Hadaf newspaper War.Civil Jordanian the sometimes and September Black called sometimes in is what fida’iyyun Palestinian the to expel military deployed the “the intention to annihilate”: intention “the to witness made a suddenly is struggle, armed of thesubject fida’i, The road. of the middle the in resting were people sleeping, the that feeling the get by would Someonepassing meaning. loses its death fire. Suddenly of arain like and mercy without camp on the bombs fell . The of . people. things private small, the unexpectedly debris the we saw among suddenly and collapsed Floors us. It paralyzed terrifying. was nately. view The randomly. houses Wildly. the Indiscrimi to attack began tanks we didn’t account for. that happened The something Suddenly were over, Beirut-based the Amman in battles the Two after weeks surrender. The young men: this is an unusual equivalence. But it equivalence. unusual an is this men: young The surrender. men (generally, who aren’t young and fida’iyyun fida’iyyun on the call they that history, hasn’t in happened this like thing .some for surrender to call began loudspeakers the At night Witness of Our Times: The Journal of a Martyr Killed in the in the Killed aMartyr of Journal The Times: Our of Witness ). The journal documented the battle battle the documented journal ). The September 17 September ) to . In . In - - - - - down the picture. the down running line bya mediated figures two flowers—the with adorned diagonally, lying bodies legs, of death—dangling figures various from, disjoint but with, thefida’i of appears figure the wherein split image, a in materialized is of witnessing structure this drawings, Azzawi’s In appears. Camp Jebel Husayn of the destruction of the image an that voice;reflection recorded his are it in is of grief cries the and men, young of the execution camp,the of the storming The of arepresentation what into he sees. he transformed is awitness, As Dia Azzawi. Sh¯ahid min hatha al-‘asr: Youmiyyat sh¯ahid qutl fi majzarat al-Urdun, aylul 1970 [A witness of our times: The journal of a martyr . withstand. no one can ahammer under alone die to alone left being unknown, for the of terror, of waiting of thirst, of hunger, achild, lost of having of grief, Cries camp. the through swept cries the then and Ican’t count; anumber men, of young number agreat executed .they camp the stormed infantry The meaning? not the Is that camps. the and resistance up the Mixing men. young the with fida’iyyun up the mixing with And camps. it the demolished that is reality the .and to annihilate intention an to indicate seems killed in the Jordan massacre, September 1970], 1972, 21 x 21 cm. September 23 September September 21 September 95 al-bahloly | the persistence of the image 96 artmargins 2:2 across which the Palestinians, left stateless, were cast as a remainder. aremainder. as were cast stateless, left Palestinians, the which across of nation-states agrid into War, were reorganized provinces former its refugee. Palestinian the by inhabited externality radical the for apprehending forms intelligible generating by terms, cal politi in massacre about the to think attempt an as Tel appear al-Zaatar on made Azzawi drawings the unintelligibility, this against Considered unintelligible. was of refugees massacres of the dimension political the care of logic humanitarian the within and governance, humanitarian of object but an entity not apolitical was refugee The services. health providing and them educating of but also Israel, state of the lishment estab the by displaced Palestinians feeding and of not housing only ity responsibil the to assume came of 1948, UNRWA eventually aftermath the in relief emergency to provide Established operations. agency’s the to a“disturbance” recorded is no as more Lebanon, Jordan and than in camps of other destruction of1950, Tel the massacre like the al-Zaatar, since camps refugee Palestinian the administered has that entity the (UNRWA), Works United Agency Nations Refugee of the reports the In Tel al- massacre, September1970],1972,21xcm. aylul 1970[Awitnessofourtimes:ThejournalamartyrkilledintheJordan Dia Azzawi.Sh¯ahid minhathaal-‘asr:Youmiyyat sh¯ahid qutlfimajzaratal-Urdun, When the Ottoman Empire collapsed at the end of the First World First end of at the the Empire collapsed Ottoman When the Zaa t ar, Lebanon1976 - - - Anthem Body’s The introduced Azzawi as could, scene, art political from the withdrawing by which in to politics, relation for aparadoxical sibility proved acondition of to be pos artwork modern of the externality The Iraq. precedentin “outside,” also living was any without artwork ern mod that because was this time, in opening an work such created had art modern the if And past. the into furrowed had conduit artwork the out of a coming heterogeneous, outside, temporally itself it was because Palestinians the by outside occupied political for the forms intelligible was able to generate that hermeneutic fida’i, of the experience modern to the Applied epic. ancient from an other on and the husayniyyat, of the tradition poetic from the one onhand the derived of pathos, formulation narrative a That hermeneutic, history. of reading specific out of a formulated ahermeneutic within outside, rendered intelligible it excluded. had which order of that political postwar the into eruption the magnitude, War, eventof another an as Civil but also Lebanese eventof the an not as only seen to at be Tel has ­massacre al-Zaatar the Thus today.East theMiddle of landscape political the defines chasm that occupation, Israeli ensuing to the opposition in Hezbollah of rise 1982, the and in invasion Israeli 1979, in the invasion Syrian to the Leading Lebanon. it tore through chasm, that closing in ceeded suc government Jordanian the Though nation-state. the in chasm a opened Lebanon Jordan and in camps of appropriation the its and sovereignty, upon state incursions repeated its state, beyond the politics of figure as a fida’i1967 after of the rise The nation-states. into nized order orga political entire but outside the state, or Lebanese Jordanian of outside, not outside the only akind in existed They not hostility. if suspicion with countries host their in treated and devoid of nationality camps, in dwelled most nationality, Jordanian acquired many Though e t o n Research Council. Research are images of this political political of this images are Anthem Body’s The in drawings The

This article is based on research supported by a grant from the Social Science Science Social the from agrant by supported research on based is article This , “create a free memory that persists against oppression.” against persists that , “create memory afree - - - - - 97 al-bahloly | the persistence of the image