Greetings From Iraq

I was born in 1962 in a village on the Euphrates River near Najaf in Iraq. In 1985, I graduated with a degree in applied theatre studies from the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad. Shortly after completing my studies I went into exile in northern Iraq: I was waiting for political change to go back home. After crossing the border from Iraq to Iran, I was arrested, imprisoned and transferred to a detention centre. I remained there for seven weeks before I was transferred to another detention centre in Tehran. I was there for 11 months.
In the detention centre there was the constant threat of being deported back to Iraq. I got a false passport and was travelling to Syria when I was arrested again for having false papers.
I escaped to the Pakistan-Iran border; I introduced myself to UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) as an Iraqi refugee. I spent - or wasted - seven years of my life waiting for an answer from the UNHCR regarding my application for resettlement.
I was finally accepted as a refugee by Australia. In 1997, I arrived in Perth. In 2001, I became an Australian citizen. In 2003, I finished my Master of Creative Arts at Newcastle University.
In 2004, I want back to see my homeland for the first time after 17 to 18 years in exile, afterwards returning to Australia.
- Niz Jabour

Taken from PROOF exhibition 2004