This editors’ introduction reflects on the current status of Baghdad’s monuments and public spaces, considering both the promising and problematic ways urban agents have sought to strengthen and refresh the city after years of deprivation. In particular, we discuss efforts to shift the restoration and construction of public artworks into the private sector, thus subjecting these urban developments to the forces of globalization. This introduction also outlines the diversity of perspectives provided by the individual articles in this issue. Each contribution seeks to understand the complexities of monumentality and public art in Baghdad often expressed through a series of contradictions and experienced through personal narrative, art historical and historical analyses, and artistic production.
Shabout et al. (Mon,) studied this question.