When an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at former U.S. president George W. Bush at a Baghdad press conference last month, the attack spawned a flood of web quips, political satire and street rallies across the Arab world.
Now it’s inspired a work of art.
A sofa-sized shoe statue was unveiled Thursday in Tikrit, the hometown of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Baghdad-based artist Laith al-Amari described his fibreglass-and-copper work as a homage to the pride of the Iraqi people.
The statue also has inscribed a poem honouring Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the Iraqi journalist. Al-Zeidi was charged with assaulting a foreign leader, but the trial was postponed after his lawyer sought to reduce the charges.
Girls stand next to a sculpture of a shoe that serves as a monument to the shoes thrown at then-US president George W. Bush in Tikrit, 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq.
AP
AP
