Creating hipster culture in an old tobacco factory in Sulaimaniyah
Sulaimaniyah's defunct tobacco factory celebrates its second year as an arts and culture center.
In mathematics, a function is a relation that takes element X and produces value Y. These outputs, whether similar or different, can all be mapped back to the initial input. XLine, a youth group of Iraq’s diverse culturati, is an explicit reference to this mathematical process as they, too, combine each member’s individual inputs to produce a collective, creative economy that they hope will transform the country.
Over the next month, XLine members are celebrating their organization’s second anniversary through a series of performances and exhibits to engage the wider public. Based in Sulaimaniyah’s cavernous — and now defunct — tobacco factory, XLine hopes that these events, which started in mid-December and will continue until the end of January, will inspire local communities to get involved in creative activities.
XLine’s founder, Shero Bahradar, told Al-Monitor that after holding workshops for artists, "we have opened our doors to the general public a year ago. Iraqi youths now can enter our space, get inspiration from our projects and experiment themselves.”
He moves physically and verbally from one subject or room to another, mercurial in his thoughts and words. Bahradar explained that he got the motivation for XLine because his fellow artists and creatives were idly waiting by for a “bolt of lightning” to hit them. XLine, according to Bahradar, provides that dynamic. Iraqi youths in Sulaimaniyah now can come and exchange ideas and debate, pick up their pens and brushes and work on their projects.
