Bassem Hamad al-Dawiri (died 19 September 2007) was an Iraqi sculptor and artist. He helped create a
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
artist association, called the "
Survivors' Group" following the fall of the
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
government in 2003.
Life and career
Al-Dawiri was born in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
. He was a 1993 graduate of
Baghdad College of Arts
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the list of largest cities in the Arab world, second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the ...
.
[
Bassem Hamad al-Dawiri co-founded an artist association, called the "Survivors' Group," following the ouster of Saddam Hussein during the ]2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
.[ The group has erected a number of ]statues
A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...
throughout Baghdad, despite the violence.[
Al-Dawiri's most famous work came after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. On 9 April 2003, crowds of Iraqis, aided by ]United States Marines
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...
, toppled a massive statue
A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...
of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square
Firdos Square ( ar, ساحة الفردوس, Sāḥat al-Firdaus) is a public open space in central Baghdad, Iraq. It is named after the Arabic word ''Firdows'', which means "paradise". The site has been the location of several monumental artworks ...
, located in the heart of Baghdad.Firdos Square
Firdos Square ( ar, ساحة الفردوس, Sāḥat al-Firdaus) is a public open space in central Baghdad, Iraq. It is named after the Arabic word ''Firdows'', which means "paradise". The site has been the location of several monumental artworks ...
less than one month after the destruction of the Saddam statue.[ Al-Dawiri and a group of artists whom he asked to work with him on the project, created a new ]modernist sculpture
Modern sculpture is generally considered to have begun with the work of Auguste Rodin, who is seen as the progenitor of modern sculpture. While Rodin did not set out to rebel against the past, he created a new way of building his works. He "dissol ...
on the site of the old Saddam statue.[ Al-Dawiri's new sculpture depicts branches reaching towards the Iraqi ]sky
The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space.
In the field of astronomy, ...
with a ball balancing on a crescent moon.[ The sculpture is meant to symbolize the unity of Iraq's three main groups – ]Shias
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...
, Sunnis and Kurds ug:كۇردلار
Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...
.[ Critics have charged that the sculpture is meaningless considering the ]sectarian violence
Sectarian violence and/or sectarian strife is a form of communal violence which is inspired by sectarianism, that is, discrimination, hatred or prejudice between different sects of a particular mode of an ideology or different sects of a religion ...
which has engulfed Baghdad and Iraq since 2003.[
Al-Dawari also created a memorial statue dedicated to 18 Iraqi children killed in a suicide car blast in 2005. The statue, which was located in a poor Shia ]neighborhood
A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...
called New Baghdad New Baghdad or Baghdad Al-Jidida ( ar, بغداد الجديدة) is one of nine administrative districts in Baghdad, Iraq. This district has nine Neighborhood Advisory Councils (NAC) and a District Advisory Council. It is located east of the city c ...
in the eastern part of the city, was destroyed by explosives only months after its creation.[
]
Death
Bassem Hamad al-Dawiri was killed in a car accident in the southern Iraqi city of Kut
Kūt ( ar, ٱلْكُوت, al-Kūt), officially Al-Kut, also spelled Kutulamare or Kut al-Imara, is a city in eastern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River, about south east of Baghdad. the estimated population is about 389,400 people.
It ...
on 19 September 2007.[ Kut is located approximately 100 miles from Baghdad.][ Al-Dawiri was driving to visit relatives when one of his ]tires
A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...
blew out causing his car to overturn. He was 34 years old and was survived by his wife, who was expecting the couple's first child.[ His death was reported by the Association of Iraqi Artists,][ of which he was a member.
]
See also
* Iraqi art
Iraqi art is one of the richest art heritages in world and refers to all works of visual art originating from the geographical region of what is present day Iraq since ancient Mesopotamian periods. For centuries, the capital, Baghdad was the Med ...
* Islamic art
Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide ra ...
* List of Iraqi artists
The following is a list of important artists, including visual arts, poets and musicians, who were born in Iraq, active in Iraq or whose body of work is primarily concerned with Iraqi themes or subject matter.
Note: This article uses Arabic nami ...
References
External links
Flickr: Picture of the Firdos Square sculpture by Bassem Hamad al-DawiriBBC coverage of the toppling of the Firdos Square statue
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawiri, Bassem Hamad al-
2007 deaths
Artists from Baghdad
Iraqi sculptors
Road incident deaths in Iraq
Place of birth missing
1973 births