The shoe-hurling last month at then President George W. Bush spawned a flood of Web quips, political satire and street rallies across the Arab world. Now, it's inspired a work of art. A sofa-sized shoe statue was formally unveiled to the public Thursday in the hometown of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Baghdad-based artist Laith al-Amari described his fiberglass-and-copper work in Tikrit as a homage to the pride of the Iraqi people. The statue also has inscribed a poem honouring Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the Iraqi journalists who hurled his shoes at Bush during a news conference in Baghdad. Al-Zeidi was charged with assaulting a foreign leader, but the trial was postponed after his lawyer sought to reduce the charges.