art: The Iraqi Century of Art

“Mohammed al Hamadany’s 25-panel painting Night of Fire…is the most ambitious statement yet to come out of post-invasion Iraq (of course, there are very real limits on what can come out of post-invasion Iraq).

The artist himself has described the work as offering “an Iraqi perspective of ‘Shock and Awe,’ and ” a mediation on the brutality unleashed by the invasion.”

Night of Fire is not just a belated echo of Western styles, but also reads as something of an elegy to Iraq’s own avant-garde, with its unique triumphs and struggles.” 

Excerpted from: Ben Davis, The Iraqi Century of Art, artnet Magazine

Image: Mohammed al Hamadany’s Night of Fire

bookmark: The Slaves War

In his review of The Slaves War, book forum’s Lawrence Hill questions:

“Is it a problem that many of the most famous and enduring fictional accounts of African Americans have been penned by whites?…[T]he average elementary or high school student in the United States or Canada who wants—or is told—to learn something about black culture and history is more likely to begin and end his or her reading with Twain and Lee than with any of these African-American writers.

One way to interrupt this trend—whether unconscious or deliberate—of ignoring African-American writers is to incorporate memoirs into the body of Civil War literature. In its transparency and vitality, the African-American memoir has the power to reach out and grab readers and hold them chapter after chapter. A great slave narrative, for example, offers the drama of fiction and the cutting edge of historical fact.”

Excerpted from: Voices Carry, bookforum.com, June/July/August 2008 Issue