[1] Bassem Hamad al-Dawiri co-founded an artist association, called the "Survivors' Group," following the ouster of Saddam Hussein during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
On 9 April 2003, crowds of Iraqis, aided by United States Marines, toppled a massive statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square, located in the heart of Baghdad.
Bassem Hamad al-Dawiri was asked by Iraq's interim authorities to erect a new sculpture in Firdos Square less than one month after the destruction of the Saddam statue.
[1] Al-Dawiri and a group of artists whom he asked to work with him on the project, created a new modernist sculpture on the site of the old Saddam statue.
The statue, which was located in a poor Shia neighborhood called New Baghdad in the eastern part of the city, was destroyed by explosives only months after its creation.