Mohammed Al Shammarey2013-2016

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My Class of 1971In the last decade or so mourning has become a central theme in Iraqi culture, particularly in the diaspora. The catastrophic destruction of Iraqi lives by dictatorship, war, and military occupation and the disintegration of national identity make ‘work of mourning’ more urgent. The past and its ghosts haunt makers of culture and demand to be addressed. “My Class of 1971” captures the extent of the damage to life and memory in the Iraqi context. The artist’s third grade class photograph is the frame(work) within which death will compete with life and claim its companions one by one. It is also the site where both individual and collective memory are pre-maturely severed and fragmented. Where one’s peers disappear and become ghosts that will keep haunting.

2014112cm x36 cmEpson Hot Press Natural Paper 330 gsmEdition 3

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2014112cm x36 cmEpson Hot Press Natural Paper 330 gsmEdition 3

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2014112cm x36 cmEpson Hot Press Natural Paper 330 gsmEdition 3

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2014112cm x36 cm

Epson Hot Press Natural Paper 330 gsmEdition 3

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2014112cm x36 cmEpson Hot Press Natural Paper 330 gsmEdition 3

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2014112cm x36 cmEpson Hot Press Natural Paper 330 gsmEdition 3

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2014112cm x36 cmEpson Hot Press Natural Paper 330 gsmEdition 3

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2014112cm x36 cmEpson Hot Press Natural Paper 330 gsmEdition 3

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2014112cm x36 cmEpson Hot Press Natural Paper 330 gsmEdition 3

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2014112cm x36 cmEpson Hot Press Natural Paper 330 gsmEdition 3

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2014112cm x36 cmEpson Hot Press Natural Paper 330 gsmEdition 3

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2014112cm x36 cmEpson Hot Press Natural Paper 330 gsmEdition 3

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2014112cm x36 cmEpson Hot Press Natural Paper 330 gsmEdition 3

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