EP 009 - Severed Heads Of State Part 2 - Saddam in the Shadows

False Walls

Location: Kuwait City, Kuwait

Welcome to part two of our search for hidden statues, figurative memorial symbols of power or commemoration that have fallen from favor, pulled from their pedestals and have been defaced, destroyed, decapitated and/or hidden away in secret locations as shameful totems of the past.

In our last episode, I brought to you my adventures in statue hunting in Albania, a beautiful place with a dark past that is physically impossible to ignore. I found a small but potent gang of dictators lurking behind the local art museum, a graven image of former totalitarian ruler Evener Hoxha alongside his idol Stalin and other various symbols hardline communism, but also explored the underground complexes, the decaying concrete pyramid in the heart of the city, the omnipresent and indestructible bunkers, all of which serve as enduring physical reminders of this dark chapter in history and the ways in which we deal with them. If you have not heard this episode yet, please do so.

In this episode, we’ll be headed to the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula or Persian Gulf specifically, where I was able to uncover the enduring traces of another difficult chapter of history, the Gulf War and its eventual sequel, including a chance discovery in a dark passageway that tied it all together.