English

Interview

Venice Conversations: Francis Alÿs and Tamara Chalabi on the road from Dohuk to Erbil

In February 2016, the Belgian-born artist Francis Alÿs undertook a trip to Iraq facilitated by the Ruya Foundation in which he gave a workshop to artists in Baghdad, and visited refugee camps in the north of the country. He followed this with an extraordinary visit in November 2016 to the Mosul front line in the…

Interview, Portfolio

Venice Conversations: Sadik Kwaish Alfraji and the dialectic of the hunter and prey

Sadik Kwaish Alfraji (b. 1960, Baghdad) is a leading contemporary artist from Iraq’s diaspora living in Amersfoort, The Netherlands.Trained as a painter and printmaker, he also creates animations and artist books. Alfraji has exhibited his work internationally and his work is part of public and private collections including the British Museum, Mathaf: Arab Museum of…

Interview

Venice Conversations: Sherko Abbas on the role of music and soft power.

Sherko Abbas (b. 1978, Sulaymaniya) is a multimedia artist who lives and works in Sulaymaniya, Iraq. Abbas works with video, performance, text and found objects. In 2013 he was awarded a scholarship from the Kurdistan Regional Government to pursue an MFA at the University of Goldsmiths, London. Abbas’ work has appeared in various group shows…

Interview

‘The scribe knows all our secrets’ : Film-maker Luay Fadhil on his new commission for the Iraq Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale

Luay Fadhil (b. 1982, Baghdad) is a film-maker based in Baghdad. After training as a construction engineer, Fadhil took a course in film-making at the New York Film Academy Abu Dhabi. He has since directed seven short films. Lipstick (2012), about sex education classes at a boy’s high school in Baghdad won the Gold Award…