A sculpture by Mohammed Ghani Hikmat, inspired by a story in “One Thousand and One Nights,” in a park in Baghdad. CreditSabah Arar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Mohammed Ghani Hikmat, the Iraqi sculptor who created many of Baghdad’s most famous landmarks and who led the effort to recover works of art looted from the National Museum of Iraq after the fall of Saddam Huss
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Download PDF Hikmat was born in Baghdad’s Kadumiya neighborhood and graduated from the Fine Arts Institute in Baghdad back in 1953, before moving to Rome to complete his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in 1957. He is a true cultural and artistic icon who not only spearheaded the recovery of art looted from the National Museum of Iraq after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but al
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An open letter to Pope Francis, Sovereign of the Vatican City. Your Holiness, In the aftermath of the atrocities in Paris and Brussels, and the daily outrages against humanity in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere, it is easy to forget the religious tolerance is under siege from a tiny minority of extremists. But their ultra-violent methods aim to provoke social segregation and retri
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BAGHDAD — “Ramadi has turned into ruins,” said Ouda, a soldier who has been fighting in the Iraqi army’s Seventh Division since mid-2015. Ouda took part in the liberation of Anbar province from the Islamic State (IS), which took hold of the city of Ramadi in May 2015. Al-Monitor met Ouda (a pseudonym), who is a resident of Baghdad, in one of the cafes of the capital during his
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ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan — The ongoing reform push by Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has brought about a sense of unity in the Kurdish ranks, unseen for the past couple of years. When Abadi declared plans in February to reshuffle his Cabinet, an unintended consequence of his efforts was uniting major Kurdish factions in opposition to his stated goals. Kurds have stood aga
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