Misadventure in the Middle East: Travels as Tramp, Artist & Spy

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  • Author: Henry Hemming
  • Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing
  • Catalogue: 152134
  • Size: 21.4 x 13.5 cm
British artist Henry Hemming set out in a pick-up truck called Yasmine to begin an extraordinary journey through the Middle East post-9/11.

Unsure how he’d make enough money to even stay on the road, where he was going or what he would find, he uses art as his passport to gain access to areas closed off to any other traveller. He travels to the drug-fuelled ski slopes of Iran, the souks, mosques, palaces, army barracks, secret beaches, police cells, nightclubs, torture chambers, brothels and artists’ studios until he reaches Baghdad for a Fourth of July party with American GIs in one of Saddam’s former palaces.

On his way he meets he meets the Middle East’s youth, discovers their dreams, doubts and passions to reveal a young and unpredictable region that escapes the nightly news radar. And he begins to understand what he represents too - whether it’s a British spy, Muslim extremeist, jihadi, tramp, bohemian, street-cleaner, Baghdadi, or just possibly an artist. It’s a unique tale and highly original journey.