Representations of Iraq’s past to imagine a new life and future for Iraq were designed to overcome divisions and send a message of solidarity that Iraq’s youth have little interest in reproducing political party promoted sectarianism. In this context, art serves to embolden, instil confidence and build shared identities.
As Bourdieu (1989) reminds us, these forms of symbolic power also represent the possibility of change as it can constitute new forms of action and lend a semblance of legitimacy to individuals and groups (Bourdieu 1989).
Cultural heritage, or more specifically – notions of the past – has been one of the most effective tools in those forms of cultural expression, utilising the country’s rich cultural heritage in new and alternative imageries of the country.
''I have painted many works of art that embody the suffering of this people and documented pictures of martyrs and victims on the walls, but the most famous work for me in this period is a painting called (A Love Story) that painted an exhausted protester while he was sleeping and leaning on the Hammurabi obelisk, meaning that this Iraqi protester has a long history. Great, and I wrote the phrase ''I am and my country, Iraq, a love story that the politicians will not understand'' Iraqi Artist