Al Fadhil /// Poetry Front
http://www.iraqpavilion.com
The Iraq Pavilion / Venice Biennale 2003
The only other work directly addressing the issue of recent global events was not an official part of La Biennale, but an individual action. Not since 1990 has there been Iraqi art present at the Venice Biennale, but this year, Iraqi artist Al Fadhil, who is based in Italy, devised a "mobile pavilion"–a T-shirt that reads on its front "I’m the Iraq pavilion at the 50th Venice Biennial" and which will be worn by someone throughout the course of La Biennale until it ends in November. With its economy of scale and modesty, it was much more powerful and poignant than the whole costly theatrical production of the Egyptian pavilion, bringing attention to the silencing of the cultural voice of Iraq.
Volume 7, Issue 17 26 JUNE - 2 JULY 2003
© Cairo Times
