Murals bring colour to battle-scarred Baghdad

A splash of colour is adding texture to Baghdad's urban jungle thanks to the talents of Iraqi artist Wijdan al-Majed. From a scaffold high above the streets, she labours over her craft late into the night, to the disdain of some more conservative locals, though her dedication to her art has won her many supporters.

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."

Having endured a 13 year embargo, US-led military invasion in 2003 ousting Saddam Hussein, and the decades of sectarian violence that followed, Baghdad's infrastructure's seen better days.

The murals, the brainchild of Baghdad mayor Alaa Maan, have lifted the city's tired facades.

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."

Each piece represents either a typical resident of the city or a person of national or international note. Currently nearing completion, this mural recognises the contributions of Muzaffer al-Nawab, the country's 'revolutionary poet'. Dedicating his life to speaking out against Iraq's oppressive regimes, he spent many years behind bars.

Murals celebrating other national heroes depict the father of Iraqi modern art, Jawad Salim, and Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. Meanwhile international icons from Catholic saint Mother Teresa to German sociologist Max Weber also loom larger than life.

Although the mayor uses his own discretion selecting subjects for the murals, it's al-Majed's considerable talents which create such striking commissions. The reward for her is the democratisation of art that such public pieces make possible.

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