An effective portmanteau, calligraffiti, points at both the aesthetic sophistication of traditional Arabic calligraphy and the need for communicational immediacy that is proper of pop art, a need that is all the more urgent since Azzawi’s country, Iraq, has been unsettled by regime changes, upheaval, and war. Violence silences human voices, but an artist’s work can generate new channels, new voices, and new identities.
