This extremely moving short (6:00 minute) animation film is part of the larger project featured here earlier that included a massive 6 x 4 meter painting and installation. Here, Sadik Kwaish Alfraji recalls one of the most devastating and emotional events in his life; the passing of his father. Having not been to Baghdad in 20 years, Sadik’s first return to the country and his hometown coincided with the death of his father; an experience that not only made him fully realize the role the diaspora plays in the shaping of his personality and memories, but also one that generated an existential conflict between life and death within his awareness. On this sentimental project, Sadik writes:
Once upon a time:
In the family house, and in my father’s room in particular, which was his guest room and daily sitting area, my feet shook as I entered the room after long years of expatriation. His clothes, which were hanging there in a corner, were the first things I laid eyes on. That was a very intense and emotional moment to me.
This is then what is left of my father??
His kufiyeh “head cover”, agal “headband”, praying beads, and traditional clothing. They were all deeply rooted in his identity and sentiment. They, with his big old collection of coffee pots made part of his dignity, respect and sense of belonging.
They were hanging there, high, tidy and clean, as always, ready to be worn, exactly as he used to hang them himself. They were leveled upright on the wall surrounded by lost ghosts and floating shadows, restless and anxious, pacing the room, swaying on the beat of his strong, deep voice which filled the room, together with the smell of fresh roasted coffee and the tunes of old sad Mawaweels.
This is then what is left of my father!
A few Objects,
Hundreds of memories,
A grieving love which still fills my mother’s eyes,
And many unfinished tales.
Continue reading the artist’s emotional statement here.