page_title: Cities of Peace
section_title: Baghdad: City of Peace, Truly
hierarchical_section_title: Cities of Peace / Baghdad: City of Peace, Truly
caption_attribution_description: English: New York: This is My City!; Cities of Peace Exhibition
context_page_description: The Ellen Frank Illumination Arts Foundation's Cities of Peace exhibition displays areas of the world that have been wrought with conflict.
  Her website reads: “Frank’s visit to Jerusalem in 1999 inspired her to produce the first painting in the series and to visualize the creation of other works representing additional cities that have survived strife. The series directs action through hopeful energy by celebrating the best of the human spirit, transforming anguish into beauty.” Under the artistic direction of Ellen Frank, the project was produced by interns of many different origins at the Illumination Atelier of Ellen Frank Illumination Arts Foundation.
  The exhibition premiered in the Laurie M. Tisch Gallery of the JCC Manhattan 2005-2006, but the most recent exhibition took place on January 7, 2009 in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. As of now, the cities included in the project are Baghdad, Kabul, Jerusalem, Beijing, Hiroshima, New York City and Lhasa. The project continues, with pieces devoted to other cities such as Hanoi, Seoul and Warsaw.
context_section_description: The foundation explains that this piece is inspired by Baghdad’s history: “the painting features layers of the map that chase more than five thousand years of splendid, then destroyed grandeur of what was once the greatest city on earth.”  Frank's website goes on to say that this work includes two large-scale figures bowing in deference to the people of Iraq as well as traditional cuneiform, an aerial photo of 1925 Baghdad and its border pattern is said to be inspired by Al-Kadhimain Mosque. Apparently Baghdad is in the painting's center and is meant to enclose mirrored muqarnas, which are meant to reference the medieval Zumurrud Khatan tomb.
  [(Iraq) 22-karat gold leaf, 23-karat red gold, palladium leaf, mica, egg tempera on Belgian linen (69 x 104 in.) 2005 Leaf, gift of an anonymous donor]
caption: New York: This is My City!
exif: {}