Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Military Space News .




IRAQ WARS
Iraqi artist aims kick at IS jihadists
By Ammar Karim
Baghdad (AFP) Jan 30, 2015


The Islamic State group militant glares at Baghdad residents with bulging eyes and bared teeth, but neither kidnapping nor death are imminent, because this jihadist is made from a shoe.

A black, treaded sole with the toe broken off serves as his face and nose, while old shoelaces evoke both black headscarf and long hair.

For teeth, zippers dangle into a mouth formed by the space between the heel and toe, and round metal pieces stand in for bulging eyes.

The jihadist is the creation of Iraqi artist Akeel Khreef, who takes worn-out shoes and transforms them into faces representing the "ugliness" of the Islamic State (IS) group, which has committed a slew of atrocities in his country.

"I wanted to portray the extent of the criminality and ugliness and ugly acts of the organisation's members," says Khreef, a 35-year-old architectural engineering professor who is working on a mural of two dozen shoe faces.

IS has done much to provoke the anger of Iraqis, leading a June offensive that swept down from the city of Mosul and overran large parts of the country's Sunni Arab heartland, sowing fear and displacing hundreds of thousands of people.

It has killed thousands of people in areas it controls in Iraq and neighbouring Syria, targeted religious and ethnic minorities, sold women and children as sex slaves and destroyed historical sites.

With the faces, Khreef says he wants to portray "the ugly condition" that has prevailed in Iraq since June, and fashioning them from old shoes does so with a calculated insult of an especially Iraqi persuasion.

In Iraq it is considered extremely rude to call someone "waja al-kundara" -- literally "face of the shoe".

"This is what I want to say," Khreef explains.

In Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East, it is deemed offensive to even have the bottom of one's shoes facing another person.

Iraq also has a history of protest by footwear, with a journalist famously hurling his shoes at then US president George W. Bush during a press conference in 2008.

When "you look at the works, you see they are made from remains of waste and worn-out shoes, but they appear sick in their mentalities, and bloodthirsty," Khreef says.

- Embarrass the jihadists -

"I will not get them out of my country with this work, but... I am certain they would be embarrassed by it," he says.

American officials frequently refer to breaking the "image" or "myth" of IS invincibility, but this can come to pass through art and humour in addition to military force.

To obtain supplies for this and other projects, Khreef collects bits and pieces from rubbish bins and buys old shoes from small shops.

"The most important person in my life is the cobbler -- he provides me the remains of the worn-out shoes," he says.

Khreef is sometimes mocked for searching through trash, but wants to convey the idea that "rubbish is not harmful, and can be used for useful things".

"I work in the street," he says. "I want the people to know this art."

Khreef says the project is especially for people displaced by IS.

"I am trying to show (IS) in the ugliest form to comfort the people who left their homes and to tell them: 'It is not just the soldier who is with you.'"

The mural Khreef is making is inspired by the organisation IS -- which he refers to as "Daesh," an Arabic acronym the group rejects -- but he wants it to reflect other meanings as well.

"The mural represents the Dawaesh (IS members) who live among us, and not just the terrorists," he says.

For Khreef, a "Daeshi" is "every man who does not love his country and does not love goodness, and believes in death, and rejects the other, and is ready to kill you when you disagree with him."

IS has a history of greeting even symbolic opposition with kidnapping or brutal violence, and has executed hundreds of people who opposed it in Iraq and Syria.

Artists have fled areas under IS control or have been lying low.

Khreef says he is nonetheless determined to go forward with his project.

"Death is everywhere, and I am not more important than someone who defends his country and carries a weapon and goes to confront the enemy face to face," he says.

And if the worst happens, "at least I would die believing in a true cause".


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Iraq: The first technology war of the 21st century






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








IRAQ WARS
After battle, Iraqis want government help to rebuild
Sherween, Iraq (AFP) Jan 28, 2015
Qusay Mahmud Ali returned to find his house north of the Iraqi capital burned, what appeared to be bomb-making material left behind and a noose hanging from a nearby building. His partially-burned tractor sits in the yard near a palm tree that is charred a shiny black, the house across the road smashed by an air strike or shelling and nearby buildings scarred by shrapnel. Security forces ... read more


IRAQ WARS
US Missile Defense Agency spends $58M on new Alabama facility

Raytheon given $2.4B FMS contract for Patriot fire units

US delivers second radar defense system to Japan

US Ballistic Missile Defense Needs More Testing

IRAQ WARS
Russia to Test Strategic Missile Forces in Unscheduled Drills

Russia Will Test Launch Iskander-M Missiles During March Drills

Navy authorizes SM-6 missile for more ships

Hezbollah chief threatens Israel over Syria strikes

IRAQ WARS
Establishing a CODE for UAVs to fly together

Russia Develops Two New Drones, Ready for Testing

Drone entrepreneur settles US 'reckless flying' case

Exelis producing more bomb racks for MQ-9 Reapers

IRAQ WARS
U.S. EA-18G Growlers getting new electronic warfare system

Third MUOS Satellite Launched And Responding To Commands

USAF orders addditional Boeing rescue radios

MUOS-3 satellite ready for launch

IRAQ WARS
DRS touts new laser targeting gimbal

BAE Systems gets support contract for British Army vehicles

Prototype weapons launcher fitted onto B-52 bomber

Army opens THAAD training school

IRAQ WARS
Airbus DS sells Belgian electronics factory

Brazil Hopes to Ink Pantsir-S1 Air Defense Deal With Russia by Mid-2015

Iran expects Russia to deliver S-300 missile systems

Germany halts arms exports to Saudi Arabia: report

IRAQ WARS
China to hold military parade to 'frighten Japan': report

Ukrainian forces face drones, electronic jamming: US

Obama to request hike in US military budget

India sends foreign minister to China after Obama visit

IRAQ WARS
Nanoshuttle wear and tear: It's the mileage, not the age

ORNL researchers tune friction in ionic solids at the nanoscale

Silver nanowires demonstrate unexpected self-healing mechanism

Nano-beaker offers insight into the condensation of atoms




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.