Adding colour to the cityscape - 18th May 2022

The concrete-grey jungle of Baghdad's being transformed into a colourful cityscape by Iraqi artist Wijdan al-Majed.

Painting large murals over the blank walls around the city, al-Majed is regularly found by herself, working late at night with just her paints and brushes for company. In this traditional society, she met with some opposition – and even abuse.

Wijdan al-Majed: "I stay late in the streets, sometimes until midnight, 1 am or even 2 am. People worry, because women are not supposed to stay out this late painting. Also, people say things which I have learned to live with. Over time, I grew to make peace with them, and they began to accept me as I began to accept them. They got used to seeing a woman painting."

Baghdad's infrastructure suffered a 13 year international embargo, followed by the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein's regime. This led to years of sectarian violence.

The art project was the idea of the city's mayor, Alaa Maan, to help in bringing the city back to life.

Alaa Maan: "The idea was to bring beauty to the city and move art to the streets – in order to get rid of the grey colour in the streets, which is the colour of the dust that has accumulated over the last 40 years due to devastation and destruction."

The murals represent both the ordinary people of Iraq as well as the more renowned.

Al-Majed's putting the finishing touches to her mural of celebrated Iraqi poet Muzaffer al-Nawab. Known as the revolutionary poet, he spent years imprisoned for writing about the country's repressive regimes.

Other murals portray Jawad Salim, considered the father of Iraqi modern art, and Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. Catholic saint Mother Teresa and German sociologist Max Weber are amongst the foreigners whose images adorn the streets.

The subjects of the murals are the mayor's hand-picked choices, with al-Majed bringing them to life in vivid colour. For her, it's satisfying that such vast canvasses widen access to art for residents of the city.