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Interview

Memories of the Future: Interview with Syrian artist Ghaith Mofeed

Regional Conversations is a series of online articles by the Ruya Foundation, which addresses issues surrounding art and conflict in the wider Middle East. Last summer, Ghaith Mofeed, a young artist from Damascus, buried half of an expired Syrian document beneath the ground in the town of Cuenca, Ecuador. He gathered some of the soil…

Interview

‘It’s like being at school and not understanding the lesson’: Iraqi Artist Mohammed Alani At Galerie d’Apostrof

‘My work involves reduction. I want to make final marks, objects and concept as simple as possible,’ says Mohammed Alani, an Iraqi-born, Brussels-based artist. In the corner of an exhibition room at the Galerie d’Apostrof, Meigem, the tip of a black leather shoe sits on top of a blue chalk stick, which tilts lightly towards…

Interview

Conversation with Pedro Azara, curator of ‘Sumer and the Modern Paradigm’ at the Fundació Miró, Barcelona

The exhibition ‘Sumer and the Modern Paradigm’ at the Fundació Miro, Barcelona, elicits a conversation between Mesopotamian art and the works of modern artists, particularly during the interwar period (1918-1939). Works of artists such as Juan Miró, Henri Moore, Alberto Giacommetti and Willi Baumeister sit alongside Sumerian artefacts and illustrated media of the period. By…

Interview

Themes of Archaic #4: Writing

“I am a letter, therefore I am a poet.” – Adeeb Kamal Ad-Deen Writing is one of the seven themes of ‘Archaic,’ the Iraq Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale. In light of this, Ruya speaks to the Iraqi-Australian poet Adeeb Kamal Ad-Deen (b.1953, Babel Province), whose works weaves together Sufi mysticism and poetry, often focusing on the letter…