In remembrance of human glory

Yusuf al-Ani’s commitment to have artistic expression play a leading role in the effort to raise popular consciousness through artists’ accurate portrayals of the social and political condition of Iraq and the wider Arab world are examined in the context of his remembrances of contributors he witnessed over the length of his career. In this collection al-Ani investigated a wide array of voices through a memorialization of Iraqi and other Arab intellectuals, artists and educators. A close examination of his vignettes of these varied influences establishes a sensibility in which to better appreciate the contributions and interventions made in the past for their impact(s) on artistic expression in the present. The depth of his analysis and the layered portraits that he provides of his subjects drive home the vast assemblage of al-Ani’s friendships, engagements and correspondences with Iraqi and Arab intellectual milieus. Through personalized portraits and laser-like identifications of individual contributions al-Ani provides a focus on the opportunity that Iraqis were afforded to embrace and develop their talents in the arts. Despite his indefatigable efforts and consistent humour the volume supports a critical conclusion of the role of the state and political power in its stifling of artistic expression and social advance through the arts

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Honour · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Portrait · Prism · Sociology · The arts · Visual arts · History · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East