Erbil exhibition traces Kurdistan from Anfal to rebuilding
Shafaq News- Erbil
A documentary photography exhibition titled “Pictures Return Home” opened in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), on Friday, tracing a pivotal seven-year period in the KRI’s history from 1987 to 1994.
The exhibition, featuring the work of German photographer
Ralf Becker, marks the third stop of a cultural tour across the KRI. His images
document Kurdish life after the Anfal campaign, the early days of the 1991
uprising and the subsequent period of reconstruction.
Project coordinator Raban Izzat told Shafaq News that the exhibition was first held in Al-Sulaymaniyah before moving to Qaladiza and then Erbil. She said Becker traveled across the KRI, documenting people who contributed and made sacrifices during the post-Anfal period, the 1991 uprising and reconstruction.
“Most of these photographs have never been seen before in Kurdistan or Iraq,” she said. “Some were sent to Germany during that period for publication in newspapers and magazines to bring the Kurdish people’s voice and suffering to an international audience.”
“We want people in Kurdistan to remember the roots and
sacrifices behind the stability and calm we have today,” Izzat added.
The Anfal Campaign
The Anfal campaign was a series of military operations carried out by Saddam Hussein’s government against Kurdish communities, reaching its height in 1988. Ali Hassan Al-Majid, known as “Chemical Ali,” headed the Baath Party’s Northern Bureau and exercised authority over the campaign.
In 2007, the Iraqi High Tribunal convicted Al-Majid of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes over the Al-Anfal campaign and sentenced him to death. He was executed on January 25, 2010.
The Kurdistan Regional Government observes April 14 as a day of remembrance for victims of Anfal.
Read more: Public opinion is absent from the Anfal crimes anniversary
