Michigan Journal

Issue date: 10/30/07 Section: Student Life

Media Credit: Holly Williams Dr. Hashim Al-Tawii, an art history professor at HFCC, addressed the topic of Iraqi looting last Thursday among 50 attendees.

This past Thursday, Students United for Peace and Justice (SUPJ), along with the Arab Student Union, Chaldean American Student Association and Thaqalayan Muslim Association, hosted Dr. Hashim Al-Tawil and his presentation on the "Lost Culture of Iraq: The Looting of Iraqi Antiquities, Artworks and Other Cultural Materials."

Al-Tawil is a professor of art history at Henry Ford Community College and has researched the history of Arab and Islamic art and culture. He was on the faculty of the University of Baghdad and was active in the Iraq art scene during the 1970s and 80s.

This was the third time the presentation had come to the University of Michigan-Dearborn. More than 50 people attended the lecture.

Vice-President of SUPJ, Rashid Baydoun, started off the evening with a speech and an introduction to the guest speaker of the afternoon.

"An event such as the one that will be presented to you this evening is long overdue to this campus," Baydoun said, addressing the audience. "Dr. Hashim Al-Tawil and his dedication to the arts, and the overall commitment that continues to breathe life into this decisive matter, will forever be achievable because of him."

Al-Tawil not only brought his knowledge about Iraq, but also many pictures depicting the destruction and raiding of prominent Iraqi art forms and other various materials that are important to Iraqi culture.

Al-Tawil started off the presentation with a brief history of Iraq, noting that it is the oldest country in the world and is home to many diverse populations.

Al-Tawil then presented the audience with pictures of lost archeological relics antiquities and of the destruction of archeological sites since the war between the United States and Iraq began.

Iraqi museums, which held decades' worth of art works and manuscripts of Iraqi history, were all burned and destroyed. The National Library and National Museum of Modern Iraqi Art in Baghdad, which held more than 7,000 Iraqi artworks, are gone. Modern public monuments, including The Victory Monument, which stood in memory of Iraq's victory over Iran, were destroyed. Religious icons and shrines were also shattered.

Fourteen Ramadan monuments were also destroyed, along with the Baghdad International Airport and the Rashid Hotel and Conference Palace, which was where the most important public figures of Iraq stayed.

"The ethnic identity and religious identity of Iraq is diverse," Al-Tawil concluded.

After the presentation, a question and answer session was held. SUPJ then presented Al-Tawil with a plaque, thanking him for coming and shedding light on the situation in Iraq.

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