Over the course of human history, political parties and movements have been involved in the destruction of great works of art. From the Mongols to recent terrorist organizations like Islamic State, these political organizations have a bad habit of destroying works of art. Moreover, this is only seen being done by political organizations that seek change or control over the world.
The most recent and impactful of which being the Nazi party, Taliban, and Islamic state. This area is incredibly interesting because art is being destroyed right under our noses, not many people understand the impact of the history behind these works of art that are now destroyed, and it happens over and over throughout human history. What is very peculiar about this is that not many people really consider the motivation behind all of the destruction and vandalism. This begs the question, what causes political organizations to destroy works of art in their quest for political power? For the past few years the world has begun to really understand the affects and the power that the terrorist organization Islamic State holds. The main source of media coverage of Islamic state ranges from the murdering of innocent people to the destruction of ancient works of art. For example, Islamic state militants in Iraq and Syria wage war against the region’s cultural heritage by attacking archaeological sites with bulldozers and explosives. The actual motives behind their destruction are not set in stone, but
First, the artwork that I would like to discuss about is a painting called American Qur’an, Sura 85-86 which was created in 2007 by Sandow Birk. The reason why Birk decided to paint American Qur’an, Sura 85-86 was because he wanted to undermine cultural prejudices about one
Countless art has been sought-after throughout history. Explorers, scientists, art collectors, politicians, and entrepreneurs from Western nations have sought out and removed art from the lands of great civilizations, often with the assistance and participation of local people and governments. Even as cultural property faces immediate danger today in conflict zones like Syria and Mali, there is circumstantial evidence that some nations are awakening to the political and foreign policy benefits that can flow from the repatriation of cultural patrimony. While on a different scale from World War II, historic structures, religious monuments, and other priceless ancient times continue to suffer collateral damage and manipulation in armed conflict. Relics have been stolen, smuggled and sold in what is a reported multibillion dollar underground market. They have become the illicit prizes of private collectors and the subject of legal claims against museums. Of the countless museums subject to legal claims, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City happens to be one of them. “The Metropolitan Museum has acquired thousands of works and objects of art from the antiquities”. “For the past several years, the government of Turkey has warned U.S. and foreign museums (including The Metropolitan Museum of Art), that unless ancient objects from Turkish soil are given up on demand, Turkey will stop lending artworks” (The Committee for Cultural Policy, 2015). Turkey continues to up the
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, or LACMA as it is commonly known, is among the world’s largest art collections in North America, and to be specific enough the most prevalent artwork in the western United States (Compton 165). This massive art museum has a collection of over 100,000 artworks, which extends from the ancient times to present days (Gilbert and Mills 174). These collections, which are mainly from Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin-America and America itself, are grouped into several departments within the museums buildings, depending on the region, culture, media, and time period. This paper analyzes the different genres of art and explains the main features that make the Islamic artworks
This article by Isabelle Duyvesteyn starts off by summarising the objectives that challenge the perspective of terrorism since the last decade of the twentieth century is fundamentally new. In this article certain questions have been debated regarding new aspects of terrorism and they are: “transnational nature of the perpetrators and their organizations, their religious inspiration, fanaticism, use of weapons of mass destruction and their indiscriminate targeting.” ("How New Is the New Terrorism?", 2017)In order to understand the depth of aspects of new terrorism the article talks about “national and territorial focus of the new terrorists, their political motivations, use of conventional weaponry and the symbolic targeting that is aimed in order to achieve a surprising effect.” ("How New Is the New Terrorism?", 2017)
Context and Research Question: In August 2015, after capturing the ancient Roman site of Palmyra, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) spectacularly exploded the remains of the Temple of Bel and the Temple of Baalshamin. They immediately spread the images of their destruction online by creating videos and news reports. ISIL’s acts of destruction mark the largest-scale mass destruction of antiquities by one group since the Second World War (Kulish and Myers 2016), and their videos are extremely effective in disseminating their spectacles outside of the Middle East. Scholars in art history, archaeology, and law consider these acts the destruction of cultural heritage (Harmanşah 2015; Bauer 2015; Brodie 2015; Drasewska 2015; He 2015; Kila 2015). In particular, ISIL’s videos seek to defy Western European ideas about cultural heritage which are often cast as universal (Meskell 2002, 568) and engage a worldwide audience through carefully articulated performances. However, the many Canadian journalists using digital media to protest the destruction and reassert their own humanitarian, cosmopolitan, and civilized heritage values clearly mark the success of this strategy (Manley 2016). In fact, a trend emerged where popular news stories claim that ISIL is destroying the heritage that belongs to all of humanity (Harmanşah 2015, 173). Some scholars dispute the validity of this
For example in 1930 Nazi Germany, Nazis burned Jewish writers works, Jewish artwork, and pretty much anything else derived from the Jewish culture. A similar event can be seen in Mosul, recently. The terrorist group ISIS also known as ISIL, has been engaging in book rades and so far have damaged ¨three [major] libraries: a Sunni Muslim library, the library of the 265-year-old Latin Church and Monastery of the Dominican Fathers, and the Mosul Museum Library¨ (University of Mosul history professor). In a Newsela interview with Hakim al-Zamili, An Iraqi lawmaker, there is a potential reason suggested for these violent outbursts these terrorist groups are performing. According to al-Zamili, “Islamic State group ‘considers culture, civilization and science as their fierce enemies.’” When this is taken into consideration it is obvious why the terrorist group has been acting out and damaging libraries, due to their housing of books that contain such subjects.
In current media there are constant stories of terror attacks including bombings, shootings, and sieges. Many of these assaults have been undertaken by the religious extremist group, ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), which have stemmed from the basic religious teachings of
Religious organizations not only protested the work but ultimately began attacking the funding of the work by The National Endowment of the Arts (Choi 2002, 12). Although the National Endowment of the Arts had no control over the artist’s work, the conservative politicians threatened to punish the agency by cutting funds. This attack has consequences on the National Endowment of the Arts and restricts the agency’s ability to create art experiences and exposure for the public. Ultimately, laws were created that prevented the funding of art deemed as obscene or lacking artistic merit and value (Dubin 1992, 100).
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, popularly known as ISIS and Daesh, is the 21st centuries rising global threat to humanity. The world has united to reduce and ultimately prevent genocide. In the paper ISIS will be referenced as Daesh. The initial part of the essay will cover Daesh origins, ideology, goals, and objectives. It is essential to know the similarities of the present Daesh brutalities and historic barbarisms of Wahhabism. The rest of the essay will focus on leadership, funding, and capabilities, such as physical bases support locations. The conclusion will attempt to raise concern of the internal threat within the United States. This essay will be limited to sources not having access to restricted or classified information. The closing goal of this essay is to embolden the serious threat to the United States and other countries seeking pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.
It was quite eye-opening to find out that every single country in our world has experienced a terrorist attack, whether that be minor or major. Gaining knowledge about this issue allowed us to come up with solutions to combat this problem, in order to avoid getting targeted by other countries. The largest and most well-known terrorist group in Syria is named ISIS (Islamic State of Iran and Syria). This group has taken over many cities in Syria, including the city of Damascus which has been named “ISIS’ Capital City”. ISIS frequently targets families, and many foreign civilians. During my research, I came to the realization that many other countries also have terrorist groups, which are unheard of in the media. For this task, I researched terrorism in Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Japan, China, Iran, and India. During this research, I learned that Saudi Arabia is one of the largest sponsors of terrorism, and they are the world’s largest source of funds/promoters of Salafist Jihadism, which is where terrorist groups such as ISIS, and al-Qaeda get their ideological basis. Iran, much like Saudi Arabia, is classified by the U.S government as the “most active state sponsor of terrorism”. After the Iranian Revolution in 1979, they have been accused
What do we think of when you hear the word terrorism around the globe? The answer that many people may give to this question is that it has to deal with killing of innocent people, the handling of guns, and destroying homes. Some may even ask the question, who is responsible for such actions. The answer that many give to this question would be that it is an act by the Muslims. The German leader, Adolf Hitler, massacred millions of innocent Jewish people just so he could prove what his power was to the Jewish people. The action of terrorism does not necessarily come from the Muslims. Rather, the actions stem from a decision of an individual with a corrupted mind which leads them into thinking that these actions of terrorizing and killing innocent people is an acceptable thing to do.
Throughout our history, many different interpretations of violence and conflict have risen. While many people believe that conflict arises from the justification of earlier wrongdoings, others believe they must perform in the name of their religion. These “radical” groups benefit from the destruction and suffering of their hatred people, and claim that it serves them justice with their one and only God. In these circumstances, it becomes evident that the fate of our Earth is slowly deteriorating with the rise and power of the Islamic Radical groups, especially one by the name of ISIS.
“The Secret History of ISIS” demonstrates how different social, economic, and political problems in different countries came together in a coincidence and have led to a catastrophe.
The history of terrorism can be traced back as far as the French revolution. Some of these acts of terrorism only seem as distant reminders of our past, but at the same time, are not a far cry from today’s brutal acts; and although these acts seem distant, it doesn’t also mean they are no longer in the thoughts of individuals in today’s time.
“Painting today is pure intuition and luck and taking advantage of what happens when you splash the stuff down. “- Francis Bacon. However when I learnt more about history of art and the way each movement and happenings in the world inspired artist to make new works, I was able to see much more than just a canvas with random paints and sketches. The interesting part about this concept is that each piece of art could be interpreted in many different ways. In contemporary art there isn’t right and wrong, each of us view and find different meanings and connections with artworks.