Calligraphy characters in sky blue, dark blue and white with speckles of gold dominate the al-Saadoun tunnel that leads to Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, the hub of the public protests that have been sweeping Iraq for the last two months. Though the color scheme recalls the blue-glazed tiles of the famed Ishtar’s Gate, the recently-painted mural is no tribute to the past but a call for a better future. Raid Madhaa, a biotechnology student, has made the mural in support of the protesters that have been on the streets of Iraq to call for better governance. 

The outbreak of the protests in the Iraqi capital and other cities has inspired dozens of young artists, who took to the streets with their own weapons — spray paints and paintbrushes. Their angry strokes have turned a long-neglected, dreary tunnel into a revolutionary art gallery. 

Most of the murals refer to Iraq’s unity, condemn sectarianism, call to end foreign interventions and hail the heroic acts of tuk-tuk drivers. The scribbles lament the silence of the world vis-à-vis the victims of police brutality.

The death toll of the mass protests has passed 408, according to police and medical sources. Despite tragic scenes of young men dying on the streets, skulls shattered by tear gas grenades, and the use of live ammunition against unarmed protesters in Baghdad, Najaf and Nasiriyah, Iraqi youths insist on their legitimate rights without resorting to violence.