Discussion on Iraqi Identity and Art

You know, if you say Iraqi, I mean, my God, you know,

Saddam Hussein is going to bomb them.

Is that people were sometimes afraid to challenge you.

You said once that part of the reason you were able to manifest your your

dreams and your designs is that people were sometimes afraid to challenge you.

I think people could not understand what I'm up

to. For a long time, they didn't bother me because they thought I was just nuts.

They didn't understand why I would do such a thing.

You know, why would I decide to show buildings like paintings?

I mean, you know,

around the whole kind of opera house,

which was absolutely not my fault.

Even 10 years later,

people were saying, well, if you had drawn it differently.

I said, you don't understand. It had to be drawn that way.

And it's not because it's drawn differently that I they didn't like it.

They didn't like it

full stop. I didn't like it because it was different when they expected.

I didn't like it because it was a woman.

They didn't like it because I was at the time Iraqi. That was what I mean.

You know, if you say Iraqi, I mean, my God, you know,

Saddam Hussein is going to bomb them.