depaceminterris wiki / Artist Thamir Dawood

(Thamir Dawood gave an illustrated lecture about his art and himself on Thursday, April 17, 2008 in Wilmington, DE for Delaware Pacem in Terris. This article represents recollections by Sally Milbury-Steen who attended his lecture, but failed to take written notes at the time. She regrets that this account does not completely convey the great talent, warmth, and graciousness of Mr. Dawood, and she accepts full responsibility for any inaccuracies.)

“Iraq has a history of remarkable art achievements, with deep roots and legends and stories. Gilgamesh and Ankido are examples who searched for posterity thousands of years ago. Civilizations like Sumer gave the world the first letters and writings like One Thousand and One Nights. The world's first laws and doctrines were developed and codified in Babylon. Our history has made us a nation of people filled with love for art despite our wounds and sufferings. Iraqis continue to paint and laugh and build a great hope in the future without any despair.” Thamir Dawood (from an interview for an exhibit of Iraqi Children’s Art, see www.iraqichildrensart.org

Thamir Dawood was born in Baghdad in 1966, but was raised in southern Iraq in the marshy area where the Tigris and the Euphates Rivers converge. It is the ancient area of Sumeria which has an artistic history that goes back 6,000 years, so he grew up around art. His mother had a clay oven in which she baked bread. While she was busy making her bread, Thamir was busy making small animals out of clay.

When he went to elementary school, he was lucky to have as one of his teachers a man who had graduated from the Fine Arts Institute in Baghdad and who recognized Thamir’s artistic talent and helped him develop it. He taught Thamir art in school and also outside of school. He taught him how to draw animals and people. The teacher would often show Thamir’s drawings and animal sculptures to the other members of the class and praise his work. He did this both to inspire Thamir’s fellow students, but also to help Thamir gain confidence as an artist. He nurtured both Thamir’s artistic ability and his passion for art. This teacher was a great influence on Thamir who feels very grateful and fortunate to have been encouraged by this teacher at a young age. This teacher gave him the idea of going to art school when he grew up.

When Thamir finished secondary school, he was accepted into the Painting Program at the Fine Arts Institute in Baghdad -- the same art school that his elementary school teacher had attended. While there, he had an excellent teacher for painting who insisted that all of his students draw from life – never from pictures. He would take his students outside of the city to draw animals, to city parks and cafes to draw people. Iraqis are happy, friendly people, so they enjoyed having art students draw their pictures. There was an art competition in which students had to draw as many people as possible in one picture. Thamir came in second in this contest. In 1986 he received a Diploma in Painting, but he could not continue studying for a B.S., because the Iran-Iraq War broke out and he had to join the Iraqi Army. He served in the Army for five years along with other former students from the Fine Arts Institute. It was a long and brutal war and during his long tour of combat duty, many of his artist friends were killed in the war. After the war he was able to resume his painting, but it now it was influenced by his intimate knowledge of the horrors of war.

After the Gulf War in 1991, U.N. sanctions were applied to Iraq and it became difficult for Iraqi artists to get the paints and some of the other art supplies that they needed. Certain colors of paint were unavailable, except in Jordan. Artists would hire a taxi to make the trip to Amman in order to purchase the tubes of color that they not able to get in Iraq. [Thamir did not say this, but because the U.S. insisted that the sanctions prevent the importation of anything that could be considered dual-use (for both civilian and military purposes) many things were banned. For example, pencils could not be imported into Iraq because they contain graphite. I suspect that the minerals used for certain paint colors made them prohibited because of the strict dual-use policy.] As a consequence, Iraqi artists had to develop their own methods of mixing paints and improvising other materials.

The current War in Iraq has brought much bloodshed and death to his country. So many people have died, that in some of his paintings, he includes numbers to indicate that the war casualties are announced as numbers, devoid of humanity. The television will only say, “Today fifteen people were killed by a car bomb, “ but it will not say who the people were who lost their lives. In some of his other paintings, there is often a little white circle or sometimes a white rectangle. Thamir explained that they are little windows for hope to come in.

When Tamir’s home was bombed in 2005, he quickly had to flee with his wife and young children to Amman, Jordan. He did not have time to pack his art or to take even a piece of paper and a pencil with him. All of this previous artistic work just had to be left behind. Jordan has had to accept over 750,000 Iraqi refugees, so it is making life difficult for any Iraqi living in the country without a work permit. To obtain a work permit, you have to pay a fee of $250,000 which Thamir cannot afford. He is continuing to work as an artist, but he has to receive payment under the table. He has only found out since coming to the U.S., that he will not be able to get back into Jordan, because he does not have a work permit. He will be deported to Iraq should he fly back to Amman. The one thing that has kept him going throughout all of the gloom, despair, and disruption of war has been the fact that he and his wife and children were together. Being separated from them is very difficult for him. He and his wife have three children, the youngest of whom is about 3 months old.

Rosemary Lane and others are working on trying to get Thamir asylum or some kind of temporary visa to stay in the United States. As unsettling and distressing as things are for Thamir right now, he remains wonderfully warm and radiates an inner hope. His beautiful use of color in his abstract art, his artistic soul, desire for peace, and depth of humanity inspire and awaken something profoundly positive in us.

Visit his website at www.thamirdawood.com

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Artist Thamir Dawood

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