After all we’ve been through, we ended up living in Thawra Baghdad, a government housing project from the 50s that has grown to become a city within a city, where people live together in tight confines, almost on top of each other.
As a multimedia artist i find comfort knowing that from Thawra came some of the finest poets, thinkers, football players and visual artists.
Once, i took a taxi from Thawra to visit my childhood city of Mahmoodiya, a stone throw away from the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon. As asphalt road ended, there set my city: neglected with different street names, yet bearing all my memories. I thought of what I’ve lost and what I’ve gained, what is broken beyond repair and what can be redeemed.
–Ali, 21 BAGHDAD
