I recently finished reading Shoot an Iraqi: Art, Life and Resistance Under the Gun by Wafaa Bilal and recommend it be added to everyone's 'to read list'.
It is a quick read at 240 pages but very informative about Wafaa's creative process and childhood under Saddam's rule. He also goes into personal family stories that are socially complex and completely foreign to western readers. I also learned a lot about the Iran-Iraq War, Muslim culture, and refugee camps. Wafaa's life story alone is worth reading. After the sudden death of his brother (by US military forces) and father, Wafaa undertook a 30 art project to cope with the loss.
While camping inside an art gallery in front of an internet-controlled paintball gun, Bilal logged onto his blog everyday to interact with his audience and attempt to reach new audiences that typically wouldn't enter a gallery. His website had 'hits' from all over the world. At the end of the 30 days he had been shot at over 60,000 times.
For a better review please visit:
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2008/12/book-review-shoot-an-iraqi-art.php
