Leaving Baghdad for Venice

Today marks the start of a very long journey. Some of the work by artists selected to participate in Welcome to Iraq is being dispatched from Baghdad to Venice. Ruya Foundation Chairman Tamara Chalabi is overseeing the process of crating and securing cargo transportation. While there is always a risk involved in shipping art internationally,…
 

WAMI (Yasseen Wami & Hashim Taeeh)

WAMI is an artistic partnership quite rare in Iraq. Yasseen Wami (b. 1973, Basra, Iraq) and Hashim Taeeh (b. 1948, Basra, Iraq) work together to make installations of furniture from new and used cardboard. The modest material and basic, minimalist style they prefer are entirely at odds with a popular taste in Iraq for gilded home furnishings.…