Three Love Songs examines the uneasy intersection of affection and authoritarianism, revealing how regimes can manipulate emotional expression through cultural production.
In the 1990s, Saddam Hussein’s government commissioned a number of uplifting songs designed to glorify the regime. In this installation, three stylized music videos—framed as lounge, jazz, and pop performances—reinterpret those songs through Western female vocalists. Sung in Arabic (Iraqi dialect) with subtitles in English and Arabic, the lyrics carry harsh and politically charged meanings. Yet the performers, unaware of the content, deliver the songs with the emotional sincerity and sensuality typical of romantic ballads.
This deliberate dissonance exposes the façade of propaganda, the seductive power of performance, and the unsettling closeness between desire and coercion.
Three-channel video clips
Video stills
Details:
- Three synchronized channels
- Dur.: 09:39 min
- 4K digital | stereo | 16:9
- Prod. co.: Woodpecker
- Dir.: Sam Shingler
- Dop: Martin Jäger
- Music composing: Humina
- Comm. by: QM – Qatar Museums, Doha