Memorial to the Iraq War

The ICA has invited an international group of artists to make proposals for a memorial to the Iraq War. These memorials address topics such as the invasion and occupation of the country, the conflict’s relation to the War on Terror, Iraq’s slide towards civil war, and the deaths of soldiers and civilians. The Lancet estimated that by July 2006 the number of Iraqi deaths – both combatant and civilian – that could be directly or indirectly attributed to the war was over 650,000. The war has also caused the deaths of over 3,300 soldiers from America, over 140 from Britain and over 120 from the other past and present Coalition countries.

Some of the artists in the exhibition have produced new works, including sculptures, videos and photographs, while others have produced proposals for as-yet-unrealised memorials, often pushing at the boundaries of the possible. The intention is not to find a definitive memorial to a war – a difficult task at any time, and especially in the context of an ongoing conflict. Instead the exhibition explores different views of the Iraq War, and different perspectives on what can or should be memorialised. The ICA’s location on the Mall, in the heart of Westminster and in the area of London most dense with monuments, makes this venue especially appropriate for an exhibition of this sort.

A programme of events will accompany the exhibition, including: • a performance staged by Yael Davids (9 and 23 June) • gallery talks (2 and 16 June) • a walking tour of local monuments, devised by Tim Brennan (3 June) • a conversation with the novelist and political commentator Ahdaf Soueif, followed by a lecture by architect Eyal Weizman (23 June) • a film programme devised by the curator Mai Abu ElDahab (16, 17, 23 and 24 June)

Lida Abdul / Marc Bijl / Christoph Büchel / Tony Chakar / Yael Davids / Jeremy Deller / Sam Durant / Chris Evans / Matias Faldbakken / Liam Gillick / Natascha Sadr Haghighian / Iman Issa / Sanja Ivekovic / Erik van Lieshout / Nate Lowman / Michaela Meise / Roman Ondák / Michael Patterson-Carver with Harrell Fletcher / Khalil Rabah / Collier Schorr / Vahid Sharifian / Sean Snyder / Jalal Toufic / Klaus Weber / Keith Wilson

http://www.ica.org.uk/

Memorial to the Iraq War
Lida Abdul, Marc Bijl, Christoph Büchel, Tony Chakar, Yael Davids, Jeremy Deller, Sam Durant, Chris Evans, Matias Faldbakken, Liam Gillick, Natascha Sadr Haghighian, Iman Issa, Sanja Ivekovic, Erik van Lieshout, Nate Lowman, Michaela Meise, Roman Ondák, Michael Patterson-Carver with Harrell Fletcher, Khalil Rabah, Collier Schorr, Vahid Sharifian, Sean Snyder, Jalal Toufic, Klaus Weber, Keith Wilson