Artwork
Dark Interludes
Dark Interludes is a print by Walid Siti. It dates from 2001 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
His work grew partly from drawings he made during the war years, including after the chemical attack on Halabja.
This is a print series called *Dark Interludes* by Walid Siti. It was made in 2001 and is held at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The prints explore how the artist felt about the Iran-Iraq war through strong, symbolic images.
Siti fled Iraq for the UK. His work grew partly from drawings he made during the war years, including after the chemical attack on Halabja.
Look up the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Overview
Dark Interludes is a series of hand‑printed etchings produced in 2001 by Iraqi‑Kurdish artist Walid Siti. Executed from copper plates onto soft white Somerset paper, the works are held in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The images employ stark visual metaphors to convey the artist’s emotional response to the Iran‑Iraq conflict of the late 1980s.
Subject & Meaning
The prints translate Siti’s personal sense of despair, bewilderment and futility experienced during the Iran‑Iraq war, particularly the 1988 chemical attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja. Rather than document events, the series functions as an interior meditation, using haunting symbols to articulate the psychological impact of large‑scale violence on an individual artist.
Technique & Style
Siti created the images by etching designs into copper plates, then hand‑printing each impression onto Somerset white soft paper. The process yields a tactile surface and deep tonal contrasts. Symbolic motifs—often stark, abstracted forms—are rendered with a controlled line quality that emphasizes tension and the weight of the subject matter.
History & Provenance
The series originated from a body of drawings Siti produced between 1986 and 1990, while he lived through the height of the Iran‑Iraq war. After relocating to the United Kingdom as a refugee, he revisited these sketches in 2001, translating them into prints. The completed set entered the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection shortly thereafter.
Context
The Iran‑Iraq war (1980‑88) devastated the Kurdish population, culminating in the Halabja chemical attack, an event that shaped Siti’s artistic trajectory. As a displaced artist, his work reflects broader experiences of political refugees from the region now residing in the UK, offering a visual commentary on the lingering trauma of that conflict.
Artist & collection
Artist
Walid Siti makes prints that twist familiar line and shadow into something between a map and a maze.
