Image from the Saddam is Here’ series - taken from the Ikon gallery website The Ikon Gallery in Birmingham is celebrating its 50th anniversary during 2014-2015, and as part of the celebrations there are some exciting and interesting exhibitions coming up throughout the year. So over the weekend I made my way over to the Ikon to see what was on offer, what I found was Iraqi-Kurdish artist Jamal Penjweny's exhibition ‘Saddam is Here’. Penjweny’s exhibition was a fascinating insight into the lives of Iraqi people that goes beyond the usual war images that have constantly bombarded our screens and newspapers over the years. Penjweny depicts the realities of the average Iraqi person’s life through the art of photography and film. The presence of Saddam Hussein in Iraqi society is a subject matter that Penjweny is particular drawn to, hence the exhibition title. He cleverly explores this through photographs taken of Iraqi people going about their daily li...
Kuandika is a swahili word and it means 'to write'. Art, Literature and Culture outside the Western canon = Kuandika blog spot. An intervention space within which I aim to make art work, literature and other cultural exploits which do not fit within the expected Western and European canon, more visible.