Ala Bashir
{{Short description|Iraqi painter, sculptor and plastic surgeon}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{No footnotes|date=June 2019}}
{{BLP sources|date=June 2019}}
}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Ala Bashir
| image = Man's Destiny.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Man's Destiny oil painting by Ala Bahsir
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Iraq
| death_date =
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| nationality = British, Iraqi
| residence =
| education =
| alma_mater = Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh
| known_for = Painter, sculptor and plastic-surgeon
| notable_works =
| style =
| movement =
| spouse =
| partner =
| awards =
| elected =
| patrons =
| memorials =
| website =
| module =
}}
Ala Bashir (بالعربية : علاء بشير) is an Iraqi painter, sculptor and plastic surgeon who has exhibited widely and is noted for his portrayals of the human condition.
Biography
Ala Bashir was born into a Shiite family{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Jon Lee |year=2004 |title=The Fall of Baghdad |publisher=The Penguin Press |isbn=1-59420-034-3 |page=286}} of the Jubouri tribe{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Jon Lee |year=2004 |title=The Fall of Baghdad |publisher=The Penguin Press |isbn=1-59420-034-3 |page=318}}, though he would later renounce sectarianism and tribal affiliations{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Jon Lee |year=2004 |title=The Fall of Baghdad |publisher=The Penguin Press |isbn=1-59420-034-3 |page=286}}{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Jon Lee |year=2004 |title=The Fall of Baghdad |publisher=The Penguin Press |isbn=1-59420-034-3 |page=318}}. As a cosmetic surgeon, Bashir claims to have been the first in the Middle East to successfully complete hand replantation surgery{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Jon Lee |year=2004 |title=The Fall of Baghdad |publisher=The Penguin Press |isbn=1-59420-034-3 |page=287}}. This, in addition to his uniquely surrealist painting and sculpture in an Iraqi art scene focused on the nationalist and heroic{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Jon Lee |year=2004 |title=The Fall of Baghdad |publisher=The Penguin Press |isbn=1-59420-034-3 |page=69}}{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Jon Lee |year=2004 |title=The Fall of Baghdad |publisher=The Penguin Press |isbn=1-59420-034-3 |page=278}}, won Bashir the notice of dictator Saddam Hussein. Dr. Bashir would go on to be President Hussein's personal physician and have uncommon access to Hussein in more unguarded and intimate moments{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Jon Lee |year=2004 |title=The Fall of Baghdad |publisher=The Penguin Press |isbn=1-59420-034-3 |page=280}}. Following the fall of the Baathist government, Bashir worked with the CIA to secure the surrender of high-ranking regime officials.{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Jon Lee |year=2004 |title=The Fall of Baghdad |publisher=The Penguin Press |isbn=1-59420-034-3 |page=320}}
Work
His works of art have been shown in several international exhibitions in, for example, France (Paris, Cagnes-sur-Mer), the United Kingdom (London), Ireland (Dublin), Austria (Vienna), Germany (Bonn), Yugoslavia (Belgrade), Italy (Rome), Russia (Moscow), Qatar (Doha), Morocco (Rabat), Libya (Tripoli), India (New Delhi), Tunisia (Tunis), Egypt (Cairo), the United States (New York, 1976 American tour), Iraq (Baghdad) and currently at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore-USA.
Ala Bashir earned many national and international awards, among which are the Gold Medal in the Biennale International Exhibition in Baghdad in 1988, the second prize in the International Poster Exhibition in Paris in 1983 and Iraq's highest State Award for Fine Art in 2003.
Bashir designed two historically important monuments in Baghdad: "The Union", a statue (73 feet high, made of stone, weighing 970 tons), depicting the love between man and woman. This monument was destroyed by the Iraqi Authority in February 2010. The other is "The Cry", a statue (27 feet high, made of bronze) depicting the tragedy of the Amiyria shelter, where 400 women and children were killed by an air strike in February 1991 during the First Gulf War—the monument is located close to the shelter.
File:Key drawing on wall.jpgFile:The Union Monument after destruction.jpg
See also
References
External links
- [http://www.alabashir.com/ AlaBashir.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061130092053/http://www.alabashir.com/ |date=2006-11-30 }}
- [https://archive.today/20140615103051/http://www.donnididit.com/wp/?p=44 "Personal account of a chance encounter with Dr Bashir, 2007"]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060321042900/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F2005%2F07%2F06%2Fbosad06.xml "Telegraph, U.K. 2005]
- [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/05/05/saddams-ear “Saddam’s Ear”]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060603110947/http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/858CBBCD-B192-4AA9-A7FB-B7DF13CE9D4B.htm Al Jazeera: Saddam's doctor rebuts Iraq's story]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bashir, Ala}}
Category:20th-century Iraqi painters
Category:20th-century Iraqi sculptors