The Media has been very crucial in shaping my ethnic identity for many reasons. My parents immigrated to France in the year 1990, at the start of the Gulf War - where I was born and raised with a strong link to Iraqi culture and traditions. During a family winter break in Baghdad, it soon became obvious that this vacation would not be like any other. At a time when Saddam's government began to prepare for war, US and British troops made their way to invade Iraq, it became clear that our return to France would be delayed.

A morning, in February, a car picked us up, and drove for hours until we reached the Jordanian border. We then were able to board a plane from Amman and leave for France. At this moment in time, I didn’t realise that this would be the last time I would see Baghdad ever again. And ever since, it has been a struggle to rebuild my memory of the city of Baghdad.

The news became the centre of our household. Through many different outlets, Baghdad was depicted as a city in ruin. On TV, at every news forecast, endless footage of explosions and attacks on the country were shown. I searched for information elsewhere, and used to type “Baghdad” on google images every now and then... but again, all I saw were images of people covered in blood or the execution of Saddam Hussein. The choice of media to represent Iraq only through its recent history completely changed the image I had of my country. Iraq, and specifically Baghdad now represented chaos to me. My memories slowly began to fade and were gradually replaced by what I saw on the news.

This project consists of a triptych of interviews (of two prominent Iraqi architects residing overseas - Maath Al Alousi¹ and Kanan Makiya²), visuals of an Iraqi embassy, and audio from news coverage of the Iraqi war. This composition holds the stories with which my image of Iraq has been shaped.