Iraqi artists struggle with issue of artistic 'imitation'

BAGHDAD, Iraq

The Modern Arts Museum, located in the center of the capital Baghdad, houses the works of leading Iraqi painters and sculptors.

Among the artists whose works are on display at the museum is Jawad Selim, widely regarded as the father of modern art in Iraq.

Selim, who also designed the famous "Monument of Freedom" in Tahrir Square, a symbol of demonstrations in Baghdad, has a work titled "Builders" on display at the museum. The 1.5-meter artwork portrays Iraqi brick workers symbolically.

The museum also features a painting called "Death to Colonialism" by another renowned Iraqi painter and sculptor, Shakir Hassan Al-Said, which was created in the 1970s.

Tamara Celebi, president of the Dream Modern Art Foundation, stated in a press release that original works by Al-Said, one of modern art's most iconic figures, can fetch up to $100,000. Fake versions of such artworks, closely resembling the originals, can be produced and sold.

Modern Arts Museum Director Subair Beldavi told Anadolu that the museum first opened in 1963 under the name "Modern Art Fair."

Beldavi mentioned the works of many painters and sculptors such as Layla al-Attar, Nuri al-Rawi, and Ismail Sheikhli that are on display at the museum.

"The Iraq Modern Arts Museum is the first painting art museum in Iraq and the Arab world," said Beldavi, who has been the museum's director since 2001.

"The museum was subjected to arson and looting during the 2003 occupation. When I came here with my 5-year-old son, I saw the building on fire. That day, I managed to extinguish the fire by carrying water with a jug. It was a planned action.

“Looters were roaming the museum, and many important paintings were stolen and burned. The memory book that we had been preserving for years, which constitutes the memory of the museum, was also burned and lost. This book contained the signatures of important politicians and artists who visited here,” Beldavi said, recalling the US invasion and subsequent occupation of the country, during which the museum suffered significant damage.

Although the Ministry of Culture repaired the museum twice after the fire, it did not reach the desired standard, he said.

"Instead of spending large sums of money on tanks and weapons, as a country, we can organize international exhibitions involving painting and sculpture art with less burden. With these types of activities, we can showcase Iraq's art-loving and modern face to the world,” he asserted.

Beldavi said famous artists in Iraq face the problem of "imitation" of their paintings.

"The works of important painters and sculptors such as Layla al-Attar, Faik Hasan, and Shakir Al-Said are imitated and sold for large sums of money. Art pirates aim to make significant profits by presenting their counterfeit artworks as genuine. No matter how close these fake paintings resemble the originals, they can be exposed by the students and children of the respective artists,” the Iraqi official said.

*Writing by Esra Tekin