The plight of the Middle East is reflected through artwork during “A Hope And Peace To End All Hope And Peace” which is running at Jim Thompson Art Center, until March 10.
This is a solo exhibition by Kurdish artist Rushdi Anwar who explores the cause and effect of arbitrary lines drawn by foreign powers in their fight to control what has historically been called the Middle East.
Three key subjects are central to this exhibition. The first is the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916, a colonial secret pact designed by Britain and France that senselessly divided the Middle East into a continuing oil-fuelled chaos.
The second involves the human agents that history debates as the champions of Kurdish culture and its sovereignty — from Ezidi Mirza (1600-1651), a Yazidis military hero who challenged the Ottoman Empire; and Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji (1878-1956), a much-loved “king”…
