Art and Protest in Heritage-Making

 The collection of visual art show diverse visions of Iraq and its past. In a context of the onslaught of ethno-nationalism, sectarianism and religiosity – which were institutionalised in the creation of a political quota system in the early years of the US Occupation, Iraqi artists sought to combat the politics of sectarianism by making use of art that depicted shared notions of Iraqi cultural heritage, particularly from Sumer, Babylon and Assyria. 

Those 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. In this sense, and 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.