Jeremy Deller: New Commissions: It Is What It Is: Conversations About Iraq, 2009
Installation view, New Museum, New York
Photo: Benoit Pailley
Photo courtesy of New Museum
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Jeremy Deller: It Is What It Is: Conversations About Iraq
UNITED STATES
NEW YORK • New Museum • Ongoing
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It Is What It Is: Conversations About Iraq is a new commission by British artist Jeremy Deller. In an effort to encourage the public to discuss the present circumstances in Iraq, a revolving cast of participants including veterans, journalists, scholars, and Iraqi nationals who have expertise in a particular aspect of the region and/or first-hand experience of Iraq have been invited to take up residence in the New Museum’s gallery space with the express purpose of encouraging discussion with visitors to the Museum.
The first and most significant artifact that will be on display is the remnant of a car that was destroyed in March of 2007 by an explosion on Al-Mutanabbi, a street in Baghdad. This tragedy killed over thirty people, and has taken on added significance because the street, named after a well-known Iraqi poet, was the site of numerous book markets and cafés, and was considered the nexus of Baghdadi cultural and intellectual life. Evidence of the violence continuing to take place in Iraq, the car is meant to ground conversation in the facts, figures, and eyewitness descriptions that have been so lacking in most information about the Iraq war made available to the public. The second is a handmade banner by artist Ed Hall, who has collaborated with Deller in the past and is known for his work for trade unions and other interest groups. The last is a wall graphic juxtaposing two maps—one of Iraq and one of the United States.
New Museum Web Site
Conversations About Iraq Calendar across the United States from New York to California, with conversations conducted at more than ten public sites.
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