Iraqi artist speaks to RCC art class

An artist’s spirit remains unshaken, even after the ravages of the war in Iraq turned his world upside down.

Ahmed Fadaam has survived a war and emerged with a hope that one day the humanity that he depicted in his artwork will be restored. Iraqis are facing the despair and devastation of war, while Americans face the worst economic recession in decades.

“In our community as well as locally, we’re all having a tough time. I think something we all need to internalize as artists is persistence,” Fadaam said.

Fadaam spoke recently to an art class at Rockingham Community College. He talked about surviving as an artist, even in tough times. The class also held a “hunger lunch” to help students better understand the meaning of persistence and survival. The meager meal consisted of beans, rice and cornbread, rather than the typical potluck dinner.

“The purpose of a hunger lunch is to remind you of the fact that many, many people in the world don’t have enough to eat,” said Todd Drake, an art instructor at RCC. “When times get tough, you have to find ways to keep going.”

Drake dispelled the notion of the “starving artist.”

“It’s the artist that’s creative enough not to starve,” he said. “I’m like an entrepreneur. I’m making something and I’m being creative.”

Fadaam’s story of survival touched Drake, a presenter and organizer of a conference “visualizing human rights” at Elon University. During the conference, Fadaam’s studio was broken into and one of his sculptures was severely damaged. But rather than give up, Fadaam used his artists’ hands to redo the sculpture.

“Art is strong and art cannot be stopped,” Fadaam told the art students at RCC. “We are creative and we have patience and passion.”

The sculpture depicted the struggle of the Iraqi woman to gain the same rights as American and Europeans, Fadaam explained. The sculpture depicts hands and other obstacles pulling the woman down as she reaches for the sky, trying to break free.

In 2003, when the war began in Iraq, Fadaam’s art studio was looted and 20 years’ worth of artwork was lost. Fadaam had to find another profession. Dick Gordon of National Public Radio was running the show “The Connection” and needed a translator, so he hired Fadaam.

After working as a translator, Fadaam became a videographer for AFB, a French news agency. As an Iraqi, he was able to go behind the battle lines where no American journalist could go. He photographed the suicide bombers and the ensuing chaos that followed – streets being blocked off by police, women grieving over lost lives and the horror of war. The scenes are imprinted in Fadaam’s mind and are manifested in his artwork – sculptures of grieving women and forlorn families, torn apart and impoverished by the war.

“It’s dangerous when fear and death become a part of your daily life; it becomes unimportant,” said Fadaam. “Art in Iraq is becoming darker and darker, but we still have hope that one day, all this will come to an end.”

The war scenes also gave Fadaam the fodder for “Ahmed’s Diary” an audio series that aired on the NPR show “The Story” and won several awards in the United States. The series recounts the story of “a simple Iraqi man in a war zone,” Fadaam said.

Fadaam later worked in the Baghdad bureau of the New York Times and became the newsroom chief. He received a death threat in March 2008. His friend Gordon helped him get a visa to come to the United States, where he has been a visiting scholar at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is taking classes in the mass communications school and has a small art studio for his sculpture projects. His wife and children are in Syria, and he plans to soon make a trip there.

After losing everything he had worked hard, Fadaam has persisted and looks forward to returning to his native country, anticipating the day peace is restored.

“I left all my life behind me in Iraq and came here. I’m starting from zero. Faith and hope is what helped me.”

Fadaam was unsure about how Americans would treat him — as a Muslim and an Iraqi. He has made a lot of friends here and has started to understand that many Americans did not want to go to war with Iraq and, like many Iraqis, are trying to live their everyday lives, going to work and raising families.

Fadaam’s mission is to teach Americans about the war and to learn about Americans’ way of life and perception of the war, hoping to creat a “communication channel” between Americans and Iraqis.

“It can be through a Web site or a community,” said Fadaam. “Both sides should sit down and talk. You can’t understand anyone until you sit down and talk to them.”

Fadaam can see hatred and misperceptions on both sides. Before 2003, Iraqis saw America as the “land of opportunities,” “the land of dreams,” said Fadaam. All that has changed.

“They are mad; they are angry, and they have started hating the Americans. They think all Americans want to go to war,” said Fadaam. He said the children especially have a hatred toward Americans, because all they have seen is the military presence and the violence of war. In turn, Fadaam said, Americans “think Iraqis hate them, that all Iraqis are terrorists.”

“We must find a way to correct this and to explain to both sides that this is not true.”

Staff Writer Miranda Baines can be reached at or 349-4331, ext. 35.