In mid June of 2005, a human rights worker in Baghdad , we'll call her A., wrote an email describing the plight of a collective of artists in Baghdad, The Iraqi Plastic Arts Gallery. A. met Mr. Muhammed and his daughter Dalya, both members of the collective.
They explained to her that they and their fellow artists had neither
a place to show nor a place to sell their art. The unemployment rate in Baghdad hovers around 60%, and so they had no source of income either.

The wheels were set in motion to bring the art to Chicago for the HAMSA From the Middle East to the Midwest Festival, which was to take place on August 27 th and 28 th . The festival was organized and executed by Genesis at the Crossroads, a non-profit organization dedicated to bridging cultures in conflict through cultural exchange, by blending elements of those cultures that express humanity the most: art, music, dialogue, and food.

A. organized with the artists to photograph the paintings in time for a CD to be handed off to another human rights worker returning to the US, who then delivered it to Chicago . Upon receipt of the CD, the paintings were chosen and requests were made for the artists to send them. Shipping framed art out of Baghdad is too expensive. So that prospect was untenable.
A. measured and numbered the paintings, and the artists took the paintings from their frames and hand rolled them into 4 tubes which A. was then to carry on the plane with her. With 36 paintings in hand, she made her flight.
In the meantime, back in Chicago, arrangements were made to secure volunteers to build stretchers for the paintings and to stretch the canvasses when they arrived. Tim Dashnaw, a Chicago furniture maker, agreed to help. When the paintings finally arrived, one week before the festival, Mr. Dashnaw worked days at his business and through the night on the paintings. Thanks to his dedicated efforts, twenty paintings (all that the allotted space would allow) were ready for the show. We thank him for his hard work.