IRAQ: Baghdad's landmarks fall victim to violence and vandalism

Landmarks in Iraq's capital Baghdad are being destroyed in a wave of vandalism and violence. For some, they are signs of an Iraq that needs to be placed in the past. But some Iraqi artists protest that if the destruction of such landmarks continues, Baghdad will no longer possess the features that have come to characterise it as a city. Baghdad's famous statues and monuments have become the latest victims of a relentless violence, which has been wrecking havoc on the capital for over three years. The last statue to fall prey to violence is the famous statue of Kahramana in the centre of the capital. The beautiful Kahramana was the ingenuous slave girl who outwitted Ali Baba's 40 thieves and convinced them to hide in jars, then proceeded to pour boiling oil on them. Inspired by her story in The Arabian Nights, the famous Iraqi sculptor Mohammed Ghani captured the moment very well, but in a less violent manner. His Kahramana pours water instead, and the 40 jars are fountains with water gushing from each one to the next. The square is between Al- Karrada and the now very famous Al-Firdous Square, where jubilant crowds pulled down a huge statue of Saddam Hussein on April 9, 2003. Kahramana today looks sad after a nearby car bomb attack in March, which caused some of her 40 jars to break into pieces. The fountains are now silent and Kahramana no longer pours water into the jars. "There is a dangerous trend, which has started to target statues and monuments, which are part of the memory of the Iraqi people. Art is the memory of the people but we are surprised every day by the removal of a statue under the pretext that it represents a former period of Iraq," Iraqi artist Qassim al-Sabtti said. Having done away with the statues of former president Saddam Hussein, it is now the turn of the statues of Baghdad's famous caliphs and poets which have been standing proudly in the main squares of the capital for decades. The first victim was the statue of Baghdad's founder, the Abbasid Caliph Abu Jaafar al-Mansour in the upscale district of Mansour. For 30 years, the peaceful face of Baghdad's founder served as a landmark, a touchstone in a city gone mad. The bronze bust of Abu Jaafar al Mansour, who founded Baghdad in the Eighth Century, stood in the centre of a traffic circle in north-western Baghdad and was used by nearly everyone as a reference point: "near the statue," "a kilometre past the statue." It was a symbol of the city, without politics or sectarianism until 2005, when a roadside bomb reduced it to rubble. The Mansour statue is hardly the first piece of Iraqi culture to be destroyed. The main gate of the Iraqi National Museum fell to an American tank during the invasion. The 1,200-year-old spiral minaret of Samara was badly damaged two years ago by mortar fire. But the destruction of the statue of Mansour, who died in AD 775, was especially troubling to residents, not just because it was so well known, but also because it celebrated Baghdad's storied past, not its recent troubles. "I feel that there are teams that destroy statues and destroy former accomplishments under the pretext that they belong to Saddam Hussein's reign. I say to them that Saddam Hussein's statues were destroyed and it is right, to some extent, but what is the harm of having the statue of Abu Jaafar al-Mansour. Was he a senior member of the (Baath) Party to be wiped out," Sabtti said, bemoaning what he saw as an assault on the heritage of an ancient city. Al-Mansour's statue was not the only one to suffer damage. The statue of Al-Wathiq Billah, the third Abbasid Caliph after Al-Mamoon, has also suffered damage, albeit not on a smaller scale scale. With its right hand missing, the statue is still standing in the middle of a square that bears his name in the centre of the capital. The damage done to both statues is still a mystery and some Iraqis believe that any artwork done under Saddam's reign is a target of attack. Iraq's political figures of modern history also did not escape the damage. After stealing the bronze statue of Iraq's prime minister in the 1920's, Abdul Muhsin Al-Saadoun, in the few months after the fall of Baghdad in 2003 for the value of the bronze, its cheap replica was riddled by bullets as it stood in a street that bears his name. Bassam al-Haajjar, an Iraqi artist, said that if the current violence towards statues continues, Baghdad would lose its distinctive features. "Cities have their own landmarks. Cairo has archaeological landmarks that characterize Cairo, there are features that characterize Paris and there are features that characterize London and there are features that characterize Baghdad. Baghdad is renowned for its statues," said Iraqi stage director al-Haajjar. "Baghdad is renowned for Abu Nawas, Abu Nawas Street. It is renowned for the statue of Abu Nawas, the statue of the Arabian Nights; Shahrayar and Shahrezade. The statues have been sabotaged and I do not know who is responsible for protecting them. These statues characterise Baghdad. It will be difficult to recognize Baghdad in the future if the destruction of these statues continues. No one will be able to recognize Baghdad," he added. It is hard to go into Abu Nawas Street, now blocked by concrete and barbed wire. Most of the trees have been cut down since the occupation. Gone are the promenades which once lined the street, yet the statue of the famous poet Abu Nawas statue miraculously survives. However, the poet's hand, which used to hold a glass of wine, is no longer there. Meters away there is the statue of Sheherazade, the legendary storyteller of 1001 Arabian Nights telling one of her tales to her lover and husband Shahrayar. Again, the statue is still there but without the right hand of Shahrayar which once held a glass of wine.

ITN Source | April 23, 2007

Tags:. .mohammed. .husseins. .distinctive. .wiped. .meters