Iraqi artist Hussein Malthus has published on his Facebook page a theatrical work titled "Assassination of Santa Claus after his return from the pretending square", where the young artist performed his work in the pretending square in the city of Hilla, the center of Babil Governorate, in the presence of a mass.
Malthus embodies in his work influential events that accompanied the popular demonstrations in Iraq since the first of last October, and the offer ends with the killing of Santa Claus and the continuation of the demonstrations, in reference to the death threats faced by Iraqi youth in general and artists in particular because of their participation in the protest arenas.
The Artists Union had issued a statement on its Facebook page earlier in the wake of this targeting and the threat that affected the artists, denouncing direct and indirect threats, and affirmed in the statement that it continued to support the protests and lend a helping hand to the demonstrators with all peaceful means available.
In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, the Captain of Iraqi Artists, Jabbar Judy, said that the presence of the artists in the demonstration grounds exposed them to threats and possibly to assassination attempts.
Judy continues that there are large numbers of artists spread in Tahrir Square on a daily basis who provided services in the technical and humanitarian aspects and logistical support, and that the artists union has an integrated health center, and a maintenance team that provides services to repair everything in and around Tahrir Square.
And the artists' ongoing daily initiative varied - as Judy states - such as converting the Tahrir tunnel and the walls of the Turkish restaurant into a national painting, and the operetta recorded "operetta" singing about the demonstrations under the Freedom Monument.
The sit-in period witnessed a wave of songs sympathetic to the demonstrators, praising their steadfastness and their accomplishments, in addition to the presence of the Revolution Cinema and the Tahrir Theater.