Besieged

Depicts an oil well on top of an Islamic star. The work explores the economic imperatives underpinning the 2003-11 war in Iraq. The image represents an anti-war sentiment about an unjustified war and at the same time a world-wide greed for the 'Gulf oil'. The Arabic writing translates to 'no to the war' written in an oil pipeline shape. In the middle, the Islamic star- that unifies the fabric of an Arab land- a land under siege.

Fatima Killeen was born in Morocco and arrived in Australia in 1994. Many of her works explore the changing relationship between Arab nations, including Iraq, and the Western world since the beginning of the 'war against terrorism'. Her works combine repeated patterns of familiar objects that act as visual signs for larger economic, social or cultural concerns associated with this conflict.