His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah inaugurated the House of Wisdom in December – a new cultural edifice and an iconic architectural marvel situated near the University City of Sharjah, which celebrates the emirate’s yearlong tenure as UNESCO World Book Capital 2019.
At the House of Wisdom, His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi toured Iraqi-born artist and faculty member at NYU Tisch School of the Arts Wafaa Bilal’s major solo exhibition titled ‘168: 01’, showing for the first time in the Arab world. The exhibition is an expression of the historic loss of a priceless cultural heritage that occurred when a fire destroyed more than 70,000 books at the library of the College of Fine Arts at University of Baghdad in 2003.
The Ruler of Sharjah was briefed on the artist’s prominent exhibit featuring a makeshift library filled with empty white books. Visitors to the exhibition are invited to replace the blank books with real ones to restore the collection of destroyed libraries in Iraqi universities and institutes. The donated books will be dedicated to the libraries of universities in Baghdad, Mosul, Babylon, and the Iraqi National Museum.
His Highness also toured a second display of Bilal’s works, ‘The Ashes Series’, a collection of detailed miniature reconstructions of original press photographs which captured the destruction caused by the Iraq War.
