Vanessa Larson

Review | A look at the beauty of Baghdad’s modern art — and the cultural cost of war Much of Iraq’s modern art vanished after the U.S. invaded. A show of Baghdad’s 20th-century modernists helps fill in the record.

😍 lucky @vanessahlarson.bsky.social for getting to see this gorgeous show. wapo.st/41RSLQw

Review | A look at the beauty of Baghdad’s modern art — and the cultural cost of war Much of Iraq’s modern art vanished after the U.S. invaded. A show of Baghdad’s 20th-century modernists helps fill in the record.

I wrote for @washingtonpost.com about “All Manner of Experiments,” a sweeping show on Iraqi art and the influential Baghdad Modern Art Group at Bard College’s Center for Curatorial Studies, with many works on view in the U.S. for the first time: wapo.st/46oxfnZ

The Washington Post Fired Me — But My Voice Will Not Be Silenced. I spoke out against hatred and violence in America — and it cost me my job.

Some personal news:

I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.

Thread incoming.

substack.com/@karenattiah...

Thanks for reading, Christy!

Review | A look at the beauty of Baghdad’s modern art — and the cultural cost of war Much of Iraq’s modern art vanished after the U.S. invaded. A show of Baghdad’s 20th-century modernists helps fill in the record.

“Most people did not assume that there is a modern, contemporary culture and artists working” in Iraq, said Nada Shabout.

@vanessahlarson.bsky.social
in the @washingtonpost.com
washingtonpost.com/entertainment/art/2025/09/11/baghdad-modern-art-iraq-war-bard-college/?itid=sf_style_toptable_1_0

Review | Shahzia Sikander mesmerizes at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Shahzia Sikander’s “The Last Post,” a video installation at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, mesmerizes as an abstracted examination of colonialism.

For @washingtonpost.com I wrote about Pakistani-born artist Shahzia Sikander's mesmerizing video installation “The Last Post” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, on the legacies of British colonialism in South Asia and China: wapo.st/4eTBMme

Review | At NMAAHC, ‘In Slavery’s Wake’ lays bare the long road to freedom The Smithsonian’s “In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World” uses artifacts, art, audio and video to explore the horrors of enslavement alongside the struggle for justice.

As the Smithsonian and National Museum of African American History and Culture in particular come under attack, I reviewed “In Slavery’s Wake” at NMAAHC — which explores the horrors of enslavement alongside the struggle for freedom and justice — for @washingtonpost.com: wapo.st/42qxBbN

Today, hundreds of tech workers at The Washington Post publicly announced their union @wapotechguild.bsky.social and requested voluntary recognition. ✊

We’re so proud of our members and all the solidarity received from the @postguild.bsky.social along the way!

This is a great piece and I just shared it. One note, though, that Boğaziçi is in fact a public university (not Turkey's "leading private university"). It grew out of the once-private Robert College, but it's been public since '70s -- that's how govt could take it over via a new rector, etc.

The battle over Columbia has sadly given me a ton of deja vu of the Erdoğan government's takeover of Turkey's Boğaziçi University in recent years. @abuaardvark.bsky.social has nicely drawn that connection here -- and reminded us of the importance of student and faculty resistance:

Yeah, I think it did probably come across more insultingly than was intended, but even if so, who can blame him given the overall vibe!

Aah, interesting context. Frankly, I thought "costume" as it's typically understood in English made a certain sort of sense too!

For @washingtonpost.com I reviewed “Maximal Miniatures” — a splendid showcase of 13 contemporary Iranian artists inspired by traditional Persian miniature painting, at the Middle East Institute's gallery in D.C.: wapo.st/3QlN6fa

Everyone's apparently an "expert" on the Ottoman slave trade now too 🤦‍♀️

Solidarity with @klong.bsky.social, who is now being attacked by Musk and MAGA for having done her job as a journalist. Reporting on public officials isn't "doxxing."

Review | A D.C. artist’s glowing monuments to Black lives Tsedaye Makonnen’s ethereal pillars at the African Art Museum pay tribute to victims of violence and the perils of migration.

I interviewed D.C.-born Ethiopian American artist Tsedaye Makonnen for @washingtonpost.com about her new show “Sanctuary: Mekdes” at Smithsonian’s African Art Museum — a powerful tribute to Black victims of violence and migrants who died trying to reach Europe: wapo.st/40hpflJ

Turkey exploits post-9/11 counterterrorism model to target critics in exile Turkey has drawn extensively from the U.S. counterterrorism post-9/11 playbook to go after exiled political enemies, in particular the Gulen movement.

Turkey’s intelligence service, MIT, has forcibly repatriated more than 118 Turks in exile — mainly in the Gülen movement — drawing from the post-9/11 “war on terror” playbook, @gregpmiller.bsky.social reports in @washingtonpost.com front-page story today: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

Artist Inci Eviner Says Qatari Museum Censored Her Work About a 19th-Century Harem Inci Eviner said that Qatar's Mathaf museum censored her work 'Harem' from a show about Jean-Léon Gérôme.

Turkish artist Inci Eviner says Qatari museum removed her video work "Harem" from its show at the last minute:
www.artnews.com/art-news/new...

Kitabım Türkçe çevirisiyle çok yakında raflarda! The Turkish translation of my book is coming out very soon!

International postcards are still truly snail mail: Just received (in D.C. area) a postcard friends mailed from Mexico ... over a month ago! When I lived in Turkey it once took 7 weeks for a postcard to reach me from India📬

Israel’s war on Hezbollah takes terrible toll on Lebanon’s children At least 231 children have been killed and 1,330 injured, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Killed, maimed, displaced & forced to work: war is exacting a heavy toll on Lebanon's children.

Over the past month we visited sites where kids were killed in airstrikes, hospitals treating the injured & displacement shelters.

Here are some of their stories: wapo.st/3AXiKLZ

The all-important Türkiye starter pack is up. Some of the most interesting accounts from ye olde Turkish Twitter are here ⬇️

Yes! Turkish Twitter is still going strong and that’s why I am not deleting my account 🤷🏻‍♀️

Congratulations, Nick! Didn't know about the baby. That's so exciting!

Welcome to my brilliant @washingtonpost.com colleague @leloveluck.bsky.social!

Review | A gorgeous manuscript shows the brilliance of medieval Persia The Shahnama, the Persian national epic, comes to life in an intricate illustrated 14th-century text made under the Mongols, on view at the National Museum of Asian Art.

I wrote for @washingtonpost.com about “An Epic of Kings” at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art, showcasing a gorgeous 14th-century manuscript that brings to life the Shahnama, the Persian national epic: wapo.st/3YxICas

Thanks, Christy! Glad to hear it rang true for you too.

Review | The story of Turkey’s tumultuous present — and its long history In “To the City,” Alexander Christie-Miller examines the modern lives of those who live alongside Istanbul’s ancient walls.

One former Istanbullu (@vanessahlarson.bsky.social) gives thumbs up to the book by another former Istanbullu (@achristiemiller.bsky.social). A 3rd former Istanbullu sees a city she recognizes in the writing of both. www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/1...