Back To Life In Iraq: Art, Destruction, Regeneration

Back To Life In Iraq: Art, Destruction, Regeneration

Back To Life In Iraq: Art, Destruction, Regeneration 500 300 domonda

Art is a form of resistance to violence and a hope for a new life in Iraq.

Venice, 16/02/2018 – 07/04/2018

The reporter Emanuele Confortin met the Christian Syriac painter Matti al-Kanun while he was on assignment in Iraq. Upon returning to his city, recently liberated from Isis, al-Kanun reassembled his collection of paintings, including three works with a Christian theme, that had been defaced by the Jihadists, and decided to repair the gashes with plain strips of canvas, leaving the scars visible. This gesture has a dual symbolic value: the rejection of the violence that has plagued Iraq for years and divided its various resident groups; the hope to return soon to a normal existence. In Venice the conservation and restoration students complete the repair work, and al-Kanun’s paintings are displayed alongside with the superb photo reportage by Emanuele Confortin. Back to life in Iraq.