User:L1coeea9/sandbox

In the early 1990's Saddam sponsored a competition for original works of art for his palaces. Nahla, an artist, architect, and member of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra, submitted a work on paper for a mural. She, Nahla, won first prize in the competition and her work was realized as shown, in the north wing of the Republican Palace, in stone, by other craftsman. Nahla was allowed no part in the development of the mural and in fact, to this day, she has not seen it in person. Her first view of the completed mural was a photograph on a web site. Nahla is currently living in exile in Paris, France.

Nahla's title of the piece, and included in Arabic across the face of the mural, is "Baghdad My Beloved".