Iraqi artists look to spruce up Baghdad

[jmc247]

Source: AP

A group of Iraqi artists - Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds and others - have come together to beautify a stretch of the bleak, gray blast barriers on central Baghdad's Saadoun Street erected to protect the area from car bombings and other attacks.

The murals range from the pastoral to the historical - with scenes from the era of the ancient Babylonian King Hammurabi.

"About 80 Iraqi artists from different parts of Iraq and of different religious and ethnic backgrounds decided to participate in this initiative in a bid to bring happiness and joy to the Iraqis who see these walls everywhere and everyday and can't do anything about it," Talib Muhsin said as he painted a 2 1/2 by 10 yard scene of a palm grove with white birds.

Muhsin, a 42-year-old artist who graduated from Iraq's College of Fine Arts in 1987, said that as long as authorities insisted on building the walls, they may as well look nice.

Read more: http://dwb.newsobserver.com/24hour/world/story/3609864p-12899477c.html

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[jmc247]

1. I love art

[Lone_Star_Dem]

3. I love people

Whatever it is in us that make us attempt such things as this, to refuse to lie down and simply give up. Remarkable creatures.

[ohio2007]

2. Is that a Sunni neighborhood behind the barricade being painted ?

I wonder what type of graffiti will cover their work in the comming weeks. It would make for an interesting follow up story

[jmc247]

4. Saadoun Street

Saadoun Street is "the main road of Baghdad" packed with tourism offices, hotels, travel offices, airlines and restaurants.

[ohio2007]

5. I understand both sides of the barrier wall are being painted....

That tells you some in Iraq dare to exercise their leberal arts.....

"Wild horses,
Couldn't drag me away.

Wild wild horses.........

...We'll ride them someday"

Rolling Stones