“I’m living with the daily death in Iraq. I am referring to these massacres, sectarian killings, migration, forced displacement, death by suicide bombs, and the killing by identity. I think that art is not only about producing beauty, but it’s wider.”
— Mohammed Abd Alwasi
Comprised of twelve photographs, this show skims the surface of Mohammed Abd Alwasi’s general practice and focuses tightly on images he made of his sculptures or assembled objects. Working most commonly in performance, Abd Alwasi usually makes site-specific pieces in and around the city of Hilla, Iraq, where he lives, located about 100 km south of Baghdad near the ancient ruins of Babylon. This region is situated directly in a tumultuous conflict zone and has been the site of numerous atrociously violent attacks since 2003 which have killed thousands of people and all but flattened much of the city. Generally he longs for peace and works through art in an attempt to speak the truth of his situation, and of the situation in this region, seemingly in a state of perpetual civil war. Seeing as the performances are very much rooted in their location, the images on display here function more as entry points: like isolated props from a piece of theater, they provide an addendum to his larger project.
