Precious Iraqi art restored after US invasion, pillage and looting

moon

moon

Satire for Sanity
Iraq exhibits restored art pillaged after 2003 invasion

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Many of the works, including pieces by renowned artists Jawad Selim and Fayiq Hassan, disappeared in 2003 when museums and other institutions were pillaged in the chaos that followed the US-led invasion to topple dictator Saddam Hussein.

Thousands of pieces were stolen, and organised criminal networks often sold them outside Iraq.

Tracked down in Switzerland, the US, Qatar and neighbouring Jordan, sculptures and paintings dating between the 1940s and 1960s have been on display since late March at the Ministry of Culture, in a vast room that used to serve as a restaurant.

Among canvases of realist, surrealist or expressionist inspiration, a picturesque scene in shimmering colours shows a boat sailing in front of several "mudhif", the traditional reed dwellings found in Iraq's southern marshes.

Other paintings, in dark colours, depict terrified residents surrounded by corpses, fleeing a burning village.

Elsewhere, a woman is shown prostrate in a scene of destruction, kneeling in front of an arm protruding from stones.

"These works are part of the history of contemporary art in Iraq," ministry official Fakher Mohamed said.

https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/iraq-exhibits-art-pillaged-after-2003-invasion
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US troops, it is recorded, used the ancient and priceless tiled courtyards of Babylon to park tanks and demolished structures from the cradle of civilization to build latrines.

Lest we forget how the lies, propaganda and profiteering of our ' leaders ' shame us all

Babylon wrecked by war

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/15/iraq.arts1


th
 
Primavera said:
The only thing precious about that are the the poseurs that think it's precious.
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Ain Dara was an archaeological site in Northern Syria, close to the Turkish border. It was almost exactly like Solomon's Temple as it is described in Judaism, and Christianity. It existed at the same time. It is proof of some sort of continuous early iron age religion from Jerusalem all the way up to Turkey. It was full of 3,000 year old artifacts that were irreplaceable.

But now it is gone. It survived 3,000 years, but could not survive trump abandoning the Kurdish allies. We have lost a irreplaceable archaeological, religious, artistic, cultural, etc. site. It cannot be replaced.
 
moon said:
Are you saying that ISIS built the tank parks and latrines in Babylon ? Of course not. The US is guilty as sin

Babylon wrecked by war

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20.../15/iraq.arts1

Yes, Islamic fanatics were also wreckers- but not on the same scale.
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link dont work

No Im talking about the purposeful destruction - not even a byproduct of war
by Salafi extremist (ISIS) because works of art with "graven images" are forbidden in strict Islam
 
Walt said:
Ain Dara was an archaeological site in Northern Syria, close to the Turkish border. It was almost exactly like Solomon's Temple as it is described in Judaism, and Christianity. It existed at the same time. It is proof of some sort of continuous early iron age religion from Jerusalem all the way up to Turkey. It was full of 3,000 year old artifacts that were irreplaceable.

But now it is gone. It survived 3,000 years, but could not survive trump abandoning the Kurdish allies. We have lost a irreplaceable archaeological, religious, artistic, cultural, etc. site. It cannot be replaced.
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So did Turkey destroy it? They aren't even supposed to be there. Or was it ISIS?

It was ISIS. Sad.
 
Walt said:
But now it is gone. It survived 3,000 years, but could not survive trump abandoning the Kurdish allies. We have lost a irreplaceable archaeological, religious, artistic, cultural, etc. site. It cannot be replaced.
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:rofl2::rofl2::rofl2:

Sure. a contingent of US forces were going to stop Turkish shelling of the Kurds
We would have been massacred if we stayed
 
anatta said:
link dont work

No Im talking about the purposeful destruction - not even a byproduct of war
by Salafi extremist (ISIS) because works of art with "graven images" are forbidden in strict Islam
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No- I copied it from an earlier post- and so it was truncated. Here it is afresh
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/15/iraq.arts1


Yes- making a tank park and latrines amidst the ' cradle of civilization ' IS deliberate, wanton, destruction.
I can imagine the assholes at work.
 
Walt said:
You may not like that the Turkish Air Force and Turkish backed ground forces destroyed Ain Dara, but that does not change the fact that they did. I would love to blame ISIS, but it was mostly Turkey.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ain_Dara_(archaeological_site)#Destruction_in_2018–2019
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I had a feeling Turkey was involved even though it's not even in their country. If Assad didn't have so much crap going on maybe he could keep his borders more secure.

Not sure why the US is allied with Erdogan; I think he's an A-grade peckerneck the US should have nothing to do with.

That's just a damn shame and it was done for no good reason.

There's no US nukes in Turkey anymore, fuck them. Somehow Putin knew about that in some speech I watched him give about Ukraine a couple months ago.

How did he know that and where they are now? :thinking:

I'm thinking it wasn't public knowledge for sure. I doubt there were any newspaper articles on it and I never mentioned it publicly.
 
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guno said:
The US Army was able to rescue Jewish text and artifacts that Saddam stole hid in some his palace basements, some had a lot of water damage . Viewed it last year


Exhibit explores Iraq’s Jewish past and showcases National Archives’ preservation expertise

https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2013/nr13-96.html
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From your link;
The Jews of Iraq have a rich past, extending back 2500 years to Babylonia. These materials provide a tangible link to this community that flourished there, but in the second half of the twentieth century dispersed throughout the world. Today, fewer than five Jews remain.
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' Fewer than five ' ? Is the author arithmetically challenged ?

Haw, haw.................................................haw.
 
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