London based artist P Waniewski has created ‘Proud Shoes’, a tribute to Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at George Bush during the former president's final visit to Baghdad last December.
Al-Zaidi emerged from prison this week.
Originally sentenced to three years behind bars for the incident, al-Zaidi told a packed news conference that he intended to expose those involved in his alleged mistreatment. Among them, he said, were high-ranking Iraqi security officials.
Recalling the moment he threw the shoe, Mr al-Zaidi said: "I saw the chance and I seized it. If those who blamed me knew how many destroyed houses I walked over with those shoes, and how many times those shoes mixed with the blood of the innocent, and how many times those shoes went into homes where the honour of those who lived there was disgraced, then it was the proper response."
P Waniewski’s tribute to Mr al-Zaidi’s act is a 21kg bronze, gilded in 24 carat gold.
“When I heard this story I was moved by the passion and fearlessness of Mr al-Zaidi’s actions. The shoe that he threw was destroyed by the US authorities, so I felt it was a fitting way of marking this emotive event," said Waniewski.
For more information, visit: www.pwaniewski.com.
Noam Chomsky: no change in US 'Mafia principle'