The Art of Protests

In my political science class we recently reached the point in the syllabus where we were assigned a simulation of a Constitutional Convention for Iraq. Although the syllabus had been planned months before the semester began, it was strangely coincidental that we reached theweek's content amidst real-time constitutional protests ignited across the country. The more I researched for the project, the more I was reminded of how powerful art can be for making statements and creating change. Iraqi citizens are expressing anger through art (seen in this YouTube video), creating ad-hoc museums in the streets (written about in a Washington Post article), inspiring the youth (discussed in a moving podcast interview with a student), and harnessing international attention (just one of the many can be found in the Egypt Independent). This isn't the first time art has been amidst the action in Iraq - there have historically been many studies and reports following fragmented Iraq through "disoriented" art. There's something special and indescribable about art and its ability to change the entire world.