Baghdad in No Particular Order (2003)
Single-channel video. 51’. Courtesy: the artist and Greene Naftali, New York
Baghdad in No Particular Order consists of footage that Paul Chan shot when visiting Baghdad as a member of the Nobel Peace Prizenominated group Voices in the Wilderness in the end of 2002. The video essay of life in Baghdad before the US invasion and occupation shows Iraqis engaged in everyday activities during the Bush administration’s drive for war. In 2009 (the sixth year of the war), Chan’s film allows viewers to look back on times of peace and amplifies awareness of the damage inflicted on human lives. Baghdad in No Particular Order fluctuates between a social documentary and an exploration of the possibilities of representing the wreckage and loss that war entails.
