The Montana tools are often found in remote places. And with the assistance of the APTART organisation, sometimes those places are more loaded then others. For a recent APTART project called “City of Poets” in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, the markers were put to good use by young participants who had opinions worthy of consideration. Detroit based artist Pat Parry teamed up with AptArt to assist the initiative and painted a beautiful mural in Sulaymaniyah, a city in northern Iraq.

CITY OF POETS – Sulaymaniyah Iraq, 2018

Since the defeat of ISIS, Iraq is experiencing its first parliamentary elections. The city is filled with flags across the streets and power lines, finally giving everyone a voice. In a city like Sulaymaniyah, it is unique that young Kurdish and Syrian refugees could express a political opinions and thanks to APTART and a little help from PAT PERRY ART, not only was this possible but a large mural celebrating the city’s notorious history of protest and poetry, it was also possible to do this without violence or outcries. This project was also implemented by UNHCR.