Statement 2019
Transcription of the statement for the 21st Biennial
As a multicultural catalogue, all the images in the work I Am the Hunter I Am the Prey refer to the main sources in the formation process of the human being, simultaneously, as a hunter and as prey. These sources may vary according to their relation to the concept of this work, whether cultural, physical, historical, anatomical etc. All of these form a set of mechanisms which in great part define our existence. I have tried to vary my resources to cover different cultures and eras, so as to clearly state that the dialectics of the hunter and the prey is universal and essentially defines our own existence in this world.
To do so, I decided I’d like to work with animation, since I am an artist who from the very beginning has worked within the graphic universe, with an emphasis on the use of black, since the black has a strong presence in the Iraqi culture and, which is where I grew up and lived half of my life. In addition to that, I feel very strongly towards the culture of tale-telling in Iraq, as well as philosophy and literature in general, and I have found that sometimes I am not satisfied with still graphical images, and I seek what the motion in video or animation can offer and their potentiality to make a concept complete… I am an artist and a tale-teller… Stories do accompany me in my work.
Seeing my work from a broader perspective, in relation to other Iraqi artists, inside and outside of the country, as well as artists from other regions of the world with diasporic issues, such as Latin America, I believe that the cultural production of the Iraqi artists is varied and has produced many artistic works of great value, which have contributed and enriched the artistic scene in general… but would I consider it as art that holds pure and clear Iraqi features as seen in the Latin American art, for example? I don't think so... I know that there are many Iraqi artists who produce great works of art with universal features and that have definitely left a distinctive mark on the art movement in that region of the world.