The tackiness has also invaded the offices of many government agencies, which have become full of plastic flowers, cheap paintings and multicolored rugs and furniture, he said…

The officials in charge of the public taste committee said they had had some success in persuading government agencies to tone down the colors, but acknowledged that they had a way to go. Until then, Mr. Sabti said, Baghdad will just have to scuff its way through one of the ugliest periods in its history. “There is no worse era than this time,” he said.

For Mr. Taey, the best hope may be a plague of sandstorms.

Then, he said, “all of these colors will be hiding because of good old dust. It will at least reduce the bad taste, and maybe that’s God’s gift to correct our mistakes.”