MOSUL: A raven perched on the shoulder of a woman with flaming hair is Iraqi artist Marwan Fathi鈥檚 symbol for the terrible events he and his home city Mosul have had to endure.
Three years under the oppressive and violent rule of Daesh and the military campaign which drove it out in 2017 left much of the northern city in ruins. Thousands were killed, rendered homeless or maimed. Those who survived are deeply traumatized.
鈥淚 still jump awake at night thinking an air strike is about to hit or that they are coming to take one of us,鈥� Fathi, 36, said. 鈥淓veryday is a struggle.鈥�
Fathi鈥檚 work is on display in 鈥淩eturn to Mosul鈥� 鈥� the city鈥檚 first art exhibition since before it was seized by Daesh, whose ultra hard-line version of Sunni Islam prohibits most art forms.
Artists from across Iraq are taking part in the six-day show, including many who lived in Mosul when it was in the militants鈥� grip.
Hawkar Riskin鈥檚 haunting work 鈥榙estruction鈥� depicts a giant skeleton standing on one leg, while Mohammad Al Kinani鈥檚 series of paintings 鈥� 鈥楥aliphate I鈥�, 鈥楥aliphate II鈥� and 鈥楥aliphate III鈥� represents the beginning and end of Daesh, and Mosul鈥檚 rebirth.
Fathi said the artists who stayed in the city lived in constant fear and despair.
鈥淭here was a time when we considered killing ourselves. We reached that low. But then we thought, what would happen to the children?鈥� Fathi, a professor of fine arts, said.
JONAH AND THE CITY
The show is in the newly re-opened Royal Hall of the Mosul Museum, which was looted and destroyed by Daesh and in the ensuing war to wrest control of the city.
Ahmed Mozahem, another Mosul-born artist, continued to work in secret while the city was under the militants鈥�. Using a writing pad he kept hidden to avoid discovery, Mozahem produced 40 pencil drawings which are now among his most cherished possessions, an expression of what he and his family suffered.
For 鈥淐ity of the Whale,鈥� his painting in the exhibition, Mozahem drew on the story of the prophet Jonah and the whale, which features Nineveh, the ancient Assyrian city which stood roughly where Mosul is today.
Following their capture of the city in 2014, Daesh went on a rampage, destroying many of Mosul鈥檚 ancient sites and artefacts, including a shrine believed by many to be Jonah鈥檚 tomb.
The militants not only destroyed the city, Mozahem said. 鈥淭hey also killed something inside, our spirit.鈥�
But Matthew Vincent, an American archaeologist, says technology can help preserve some of what was lost. Vincent is a co-founder of a crowdsourced, digital preservation project called Rekrei, which collects photographs of damaged or lost monuments and artefacts to re-create these in 3D representations.
At the Mosul Museum, visitors are now able to catch virtual glimpse of ancient Assyrian treasures destroyed by Daesh. One of them, the Lion of Mosul, was a colossal Assyrian guardian lion from about 860 BCE, one of two which stood at the entrance of the Temple of Ishtar at Nimrud, Iraq.
鈥淚t is never going to replace the original but new technology is giving us a path we simply didn鈥檛 have before,鈥� Vincent said.