Artist spotlight: Amin Al-Badra The seeds were not going to wait around for anyone
Amin Al-Badra at his home, with his paintings. Photo courtesy of the artist.
By Catherine Filloux, playwright/librettist and activist
As a playwright and co-founder of Theatre Without Borders, who helped develop the Program in Peacebuilding and the Arts at Brandeis University, I always yearn to learn more about how other artists merge peacebuilding and the arts. In this essay I briefly introduce readers to Amin Al-Badra, a visual artist and writer from Iraq, now a refugee who lives in Amman, Jordan. I came to know Amin on a writing project and am inspired by how Amin seamlessly explores both painting and writing within the framework of peacebuilding. I wondered what led him to incorporate both in his practice. Amin was born in Baghdad, Iraq, and lived in a small city called Adhamiya, surrounded by the waters of the Tigris River. “My father is a professor, and my mother is an agricultural engineer,” says Amin. “The reason I came to Jordan is I lost the hope for a good life in Iraq. There was unjustified violence by government security forces and militias affiliated with the Islamic fascist regime.”
For Muslim Women Under Islamic Fascists, painting by Amin Al-Badra. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Amin describes his artwork as confronting issues such as a more just system, women's and children's rights, war and peace, human trafficking, and gender discrimination. He hopes to transform silence into actions that change the reality of society for the better. He has studied in the Open Network for the Refugee Higher Education project of Bard College. “Inside me, when I write, I have lost all previous affiliation,” he says. “Visual art and literature granted me the nationality of all the countries of the world and the universe. Therefore, I see it as a kind of ungratefulness to insist on the identity of a land whose borders were drawn by the British, the Turks, and those before them.” He aspires to obtain a higher degree in human rights and art.
When I ask Amin if he has a favorite painting he says, “All my paintings are my favorites, but the works that discuss human rights issues are the closest to my heart because they provide me with a kind of light that makes me continue with passion for art. I consider it as a kind of apology for the ugliness and cruelty of the world in which we live.”
2022 World Cup Workers/Victims, painting by Amin Al-Badra. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Amin says, “I lived through the military dictatorship during the rule of the Ba’ath regime and Saddam Hussein, as well as the sectarian civil war. During the rule of Islamic fascism and its criminal militias, there were unfortunate, heinous exploitation, violence, and theft in people's lives. Throughout the two periods the regimes were fighting beauty, freedom, and light. They spread fear, tyranny, and ignorance, so I preferred to flee to a quieter place.”
I ask Amin, who is also a writer of prose, what he feels is the difference between creative writing and painting for him. “Frankly, I entered the world of writing recently, and I was not aware of the role of literature in general and writing about human life. But what fascinates me about writing and literature is that it is more alive than art. Writing carries in it the folds of another life.” I am surprised by Amin’s statement because I find his visual art very alive, so I ask Amin to elaborate. “If we look at the role of literature, we will find that human narratives prepare us to learn lessons in our lives, shaping our awareness in a more humane way. A person lives one life, but with literature and writing, we gain another life with every literary experience. Writing has an impact in shaping our consciousness and our experiences, so I consider it more alive than visual art.”
And so, I leave you with the beginning of a short story written by Amin:
“The dream took place in the garden of the Jesuit Center, which I find to be beautiful because of how different and special it is, with its rare trees and flowers that were scattered everywhere in an organized and an unorganized way. At times it had lilies, roses, iris, black iris, red iris, anemones, and many beautiful trees, including a lemon tree that bears new fruits each month.
My favorite tree was a rare tree that does not exist in Jordan except in this place. I do not know who planted it. The tree is huge and tall, with a large, full stem resembling a shark's back fin. The tree was similar to the trees of the enchanted forests. It is silver on one side and black on the other. I wanted to send it to Baghdad because of its ability to resist the dry climate and the lack of water. I was hoping to send its seeds to Baghdad, but unfortunately, the Egyptian gardener kindly told me that I needed permission to do this from Father Michael and Father Michael was in America at the time and didn’t return before the spring…but the seeds were not going to wait around for anyone…”
Peace for Ukraine, painting by Amin Al-Badra. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Learn more about Amin’s artwork.
The photos of Amin Al-Badra’s paintings are taken by Amin in his Amman, Jordan, home where his artwork abounds.