Seta Hagopian… When the Soul Returns to Baghdad

By: Imad Al-JalalThe return of artist Seta Hagopian to Baghdad is not a passing event in the realm of artistic news, but a moment rich with profound meanings, transcending the personal dimension to embrace cultural and emotional symbolism. She is not merely an artist who was absent and has now returned, but one of the sweetest voices that shaped the Iraqi collective consciousness over past decades and held a special place in the memory of a homeland wounded by exile and eroded by longing.Seta was not just a musical figure; she was a warm voice that slipped into hearts through the radio waves. Her songs, which danced between simplicity and depth, drew the contours of the Baghdad we know—and fear we might lose. Today, as her feet step once again onto the soil of the capital, she does not return alone, but brings with her fragments of a time deeply rooted in Iraq’s moments of serenity.In a country burdened with pain, the return of an artist of such caliber feels like a glimmer of light in the tunnel of cultural alienation. Baghdad, which bid farewell to its creators under the fires of war, exile, and abandonment, today welcomes back its daughter—the artist—as a mother welcomes her lost son, in a scene blending emotion with pride, and memory with reality.Seta’s return is a reclaiming of a voice from the collective memory. It is a clear message that Iraq, despite everything, is still capable of embracing those who were loyal to it. Perhaps Seta does not seek to resume her artistic career in the traditional sense, but her return plants the seed of a question: Has the time come when the Iraqi artist can live in their homeland without paying the price for being a voice? Can the state and society embrace their icons—not merely as memories, but as living parts of the present?What we know for certain is that Baghdad has room for all who loved her sincerely. And those who return after all this time, do not come back simply out of nostalgia—but because they cannot truly be themselves anywhere else.