We Want Peace in our Neighbour Iraq

By: imren Tüzün
Submitted: 07/08/2008

As an aritst from a country very close to these events, I wanted to participate in the "Hand to Hand" project of Cecelia Kane, who I met in Atlanta when I had an exhibition there in February 2007. As part of the "Hand to Hand" project, Cecelia has painted headlines from Iraq onto white fabric gloves almost daily since the start of the war in 2003. Cecilia invited other artists to participate in the project by asking them to monitor and illustrate news clips from Iraq for a period of one week each.

I created my version of the "Hand to Hand" project in Antalya, Turkey from July 30 to August 04, 2007. While in Antalya, I collected the news on Iraq that appeared in the Turkish Press and took the photos of hibuscus on my balcony. I was deeply upset by the written and visual news coming from Iraq. It became part of everyday life to see news such as, "several people have been killed in an explosion in Iraq," and then to forget immediately.

However, the events of those days left a deeper impression on me. I tried to overcome the distress I felt by praying each day for a Hibiscus flower to open on my balcony as a symbol for peace in Iraq.