Baghdad gallery solicits works in response to Abu Ghraib

[struggle4progress]

The sculpture in Baghdad shows another side to the American dream - an Iraqi view of the Statue of Liberty, her head replaced by chained hands, feet lashed together, her robe on fire, lit by her signature torch of freedom.

"I wanted to show behind the liberty the United States offers us, there is suffering and chains," said sculptor Taher Wahib, 40, at an exhibition inspired by the US mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.

The statue stands on a Baghdad street behind barriers and barbed wire, with a flag declaring it "Abu Gulag Freedom Park."

Qassim al-Sabti, owner of Hewar Gallery, the best known in the capital, asked 20 artists for works inspired by the humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
<snip>

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=4&Article_id=4910