Baghdad: The Iraqi Artists Syndicate mourned the Iraqi artist and director Salah Al-Qasab. The Iraqi Artists Syndicate issued a statement saying, “With profound sorrow and grief, the Iraqi Artists Syndicate mourns the passing of the great artist Salah al-Qassab, who died today after a long illness. We pray to God Almighty to grant him His abundant mercy and to inspire his family, loved ones, and colleagues with patience and solace. To God we belong, and to Him we shall return.”

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the late Dr. Salah al-Qassab was an Iraqi director and academic researcher, born in Baghdad in 1945. He is considered a pioneer of “Image Theater” in Iraq and one of the most prominent figures in theatrical directing in the Arab world. He worked as a professor of directing at the College of Fine Arts in Baghdad and presented important works.

He is credited with establishing the foundations of “Image Theater” in the Iraqi and Arab cultural scene in the early 1980s. His productions were distinguished by their departure from written texts, which he crafted with a visual and poetic vision based on the chemistry and philosophy of the image. Among his most prominent early works and applications was his production of “Hamlet,” presented with a unique visual vision in 1980.

Al-Qasab published several important theoretical and applied books on scenography and directing, such as: Memoirs of the Journey of the Man with the Black Umbrella, The Theater of the Image: Between Theory and Practice, Quantum Philosophy in the Theater of the Image, and The Chemistry of the Image and Physiophotographic Works.