Video
Essay
Themes of Fatherland #1: The Witness
In a recent interview, the Iraqi-Kurdish Serwan Baran said of his new exhibition for the Iraq Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale: “I want viewers to be witnesses to the crime, to understand what it means to have lived a lifetime of conflict.” The artist’s new commission for the exhibition The Last Meal (2019) depicts…
Interview
‘I want to convey a lifetime of relentless, never-ending conflict.’: interview with Iraq Pavilion artist Serwan Baran
Iraqi-Kurdish artist Serwan Baran will present the solo exhibition ‘Fatherland’ at the Iraq Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale. Baran was born in Baghdad in 1968, and lives in Beirut, Lebanon. He graduated from Iraq’s Babel University with a degree in Fine Arts and was taught by the Syrian-German artist Marwan. Baran served as a…
Interview
Imperial Race: A New Board Game About Iraq’s Ancient Heritage
A couple of months ago, the annual Global Grad Show in Dubai showcased innovative student-led projects from design and technology schools across the world. The Amman-based Iraqi designer and artist Durrah Alomar, a recent graduate of the German Jordanian University, presented Imperial Race, a new board game that teaches players about Iraq’s ancient heritage. Alomar…
Interview
‘I have lived my life by rivers’: Hashim Taeeh’s new work on the water crisis in Basra
The Basra-based Hashim Taeeh has addressed the water crisis in Basra and southern Iraq in a new series of paintings. Dams built by neighbouring countries at the sources of the Tigris and Euprates rivers have reduced the levels of fresh water flowing into Iraq. As a result, sea water from the Persian Gulf has increased…
Essay
Rematerialising Mosul’s Textile History
Dr Zena Kamash is a Senior Lecturer in Roman Archaeology and Art, Department of Classics, Royal Holloway University of London. One of the (many) things that has always fascinated me about Neo-Assyrian reliefs is the intricate details of the clothes and their decoration; I could spend, and have spent, hours gazing at them. It is…
Interview
Artists Should Reflect the Struggle for Freedom and Power: Interview with the Artist Satta Hashem.
Satta Hashem is an Iraqi artist based in Leicester, UK. Hashem was born in Buhriz, a city in the Diyala Province that was known for its support of Iraq’s Communist party, and moved to Baghdad with his family as a child. Hashem started as a self-taught artist before studying in Algeria, and later at the…