Born 1956, Baghdad

Modhir Ahmed received a BFA Major in Graphic Arts from the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad in 1979, followed by a MFA Major in Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, Warsaw, in 1986. He also studied computer graphics in Skövde from 1990-1991. While at Baghdad's Institute of Fine Arts, Ahmed studied under the instruction of Rafa Al-Nasiri and attended the lectures of Shaker Hassan Al Said.

He has held international group and solo exhibitions including a retrospective exhibition at the Ålgården Galleri, Borås, Sweden, 2012; JICPB Cube Gallery, Jarnac, France, Alexandria, Egypt, and Ichinomiya, Japan, 2008; GTL Theatre, Bialystok, Poland, 2009; Albareh Gallery, Bahrain; 8e Triennale De Chamalières, France, 2010; and ET4U Gallery, Banner Exhibition, Nees-Skalstrup, Denmark.

He has received numerous awards including Medal of Honour, Eleventh and Thirteenth International Small Graphic Forms, Łódź, 2002 and 2008; Triennial Prize at the Fifth Egyptian International Print Triennial, Cairo, 2006; Award of Andrioll, Drawing Competition, Naleczow, Poland, 2006; and the Jury Prize at 7e Triennale De Chamalières, France, 2006;  in 2009 he received the International Print Award at the Second Guanlan Print Biennial, China, Special Prize at the International Drawing Triennial Manu Propria, Estonia and Statutory Award of the MTG - Kraköw, International Print Triennale-Krakàw. Ahmed lives and works in Falun, Sweden.

Born 1939, Baghdad

Dia Al-Azzawi started his artistic career in 1964, after graduating from the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad and completing a degree in Archaeology from Baghdad University in 1962. In 1969, Azzawi (with Rafa Al-Nasiri, Mohammad Muhriddin, Ismail Fattah, Hachem al-Samarchi and Saleh al-Jumaie) formed the New Vision Group, uniting fellow artists ideologically and culturally as opposed to stylistically. He was also briefly a member of Shakir Hassan Al Said’s One Dimension Group.

From 1968–76, Azzawi was the director of the Iraqi Antiquities Department in Baghdad. He has lived in London since 1976, where he served as art advisor to the city’s Iraqi Cultural Centre, from 1977–80. He was also editor-in-chief of the London publications UR Magazine (1978–1984) and Funoun Arabbiya (1981–82). Azzawi’s move to London led him to rediscover book art (dafatir), an art form that he has encouraged other artists from Iraq and the region to explore.

With exhibitions of his work held worldwide his art features in the collections of museums and institutions including the Museums of Modern Art in Baghdad, Damascus and Tunis; Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; Kinda Foundation, Saudi Arabia; British Museum, Tate Modern, and Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Institut du Monde Arabe, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and Colas Foundation, Paris. 

Born 1957, Baghdad

Amar Dawod studied at the Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad and received an MA from the Art Academy, Łódź, Poland, in 1987. He has also studied animation at the Animations House in Eksjö, Sweden  His awards include Mention Honorifique, Kraków, Poland, 1984; Mention Honorifique, Kraków, 1986; and Graphics Triennial Award, Fredrikstad, Norway, 1989. 

Dawod has held solo exhibitions in Sweden, Poland and Jordan including Gallery Linjen, Västervik;  Falun City Library, Falun; Art Academy,  Łódź; and Karim Gallery, Amman. He has participated in numerous international group exhibitions including Graphics Triennial 11, Kraków, 1986; Relief, Plan, Images, Centre de la Gravure et de L'image imprimee, La Louviere, 1994; A propos de 'La Resurrection' de Piero della Francesca, Musée du Petit format, Tuscany and Viroinval, 2003; Contemporary Iraqi Book Art, travelling exhibition, University of North Texas Art Gallery, Denton, Texas, 2005-2008; and Contemporary Iraqi Art, Pomegranate Gallery, Soho, New York, 2007. He lives in Västervik, Sweden.

Ghassan Ghaib received his diploma in Fine Arts from the Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad, in 1986, and a BA in Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts, Baghdad, in 1997. His work explores ideas relating to emigration and the abstraction of nature, as well as the devastation of his homeland. In 2003, he relocated to Jörn Skellefteå in Sweden, moving to Amman a year later, where he currently lives and works.

Ghaib’s solo exhibitions include Orfali Gallery, Amman, 2001; Alwasham, Dar Al-Anda Gallery, Amman, 2005; and Banned from Paradise, Karim Gallery, Amman. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions including Environment and Surroundings in Iraqi Art, Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, 1997; Before. After. Now.,Deluxe Gallery, London, 2003; Homage to Shakir Hassan Al Said and Ismail Fattah, Athar Gallery, Baghdad, 2005; Iraqi Art, East and West Foundation, Amsterdam, 2005; Word into Art, British Museum, London, 2006; and My Home Land, Art Sawa, Dubai, 2010.

Ghaib’s awards include the Sixth Al-Wasiti Award, 1987; Third Place, Contemporary Iraqi Art Festival, Baghdad, 1996; and Creativity Award, Baghdad, 2000. His work is held in collections including the British Museum, London; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad; and Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman.

Ali Jabbar studied at the Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad, where he received his diploma in Painting in 1987. In 1990, he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, Baghdad, with a BA In Painting. He also holds a diploma in Graphic Design from KKA Copenhagen School.

His solo exhibitions include KM235 Gallery, Hamburg, 1994; Torre Vella Museum, Salou, 2002; Hernin Art Musuem, Herning, 2005; Hay Hill Gallery (an exhibition with fifty-two works by Auguste Rodin), London; and Karim Gallery, Amman, 2011.

Jabbar has also participated in numerous group exhibitions, festivals and biennales including Modern Iraqi Art, Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, 1984; Baghdad Group Exhibition, Citizen Culture House, Copenhagen, 1996; International Sculpture Symposium, Beirut, 2000; Tehran International Biennial, Tehran Museum Contemporary Art, Tehran, 2005; and the Painting Symposium, Normandy, 2010. His awards include First Prize in Painting, and Third Prize in Painting, Iraqi Modern Arts Festival, Baghdad, 1985 and 1987; First Prize in Sculpture, Dubai Sculpture Symposium, Dubai, 2005; and First Prize in Sculpture, Tehran Sculpture Symposium, Tehran, 2007. Public works by the artist includes five stone monuments in Turkey, Oman, Bahrain and Beirut. He lives and works in London.

Born 1963, Najaf 

Halim Al-Karim studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he received a BA in Fine Arts, specializing in ceramics, in 1988. Later, in 2000, he received a BA from the Gerrit Reitveld Academy, Amsterdam. Though he started out as a ceramicist, Al-Karim is most widely known for his photographic works. He is particularly interested in subjects related to urbanism and violence generated through political agenda.

Al-Karim has held numerous solo exhibitions including the French Cultural Centre, Amman, 1993; Fibeitt Gallery, Amsterdam, 2000; Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, Colorado, 2007; XVA Gallery, Dubai 2009; and Darat Al-Funun, Amman, 2010. He has participated in group exhibitions, festivals and biennales including Salon d’Automne, Sursock Museum, Beirut, 1994; Musée des Metiers de Mercure, Larochelle, 1997; Paul Klee Museum, Bern, 2009; Saatchi Gallery, 2009; Peripheral Vision, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, 2010; and Aqua Ferita/Wounded Water, Iraqi Pavilion, Fifty-fourth Venice Biennale, 2001.

His work is held in public collections including the Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah; Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman; Saatchi Gallery, London; Sovereign Art Foundation, Hong Kong; Sursock Museum, Beirut; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. He lives and works in Denver, Colorado and Dubai.

Born 1962, Baghdad, Iraq

Nedim Kufi received a BA in Etching from the Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad, in 1985. After emigrating to the Netherlands in 1990, he received a BA in Graphic Design from HKU, Utrecht, in 2002. He also holds an MA in Design from artEZ, Enschede.

Kufi’s work explores ideas of ‘home’ and exile. He has held solo exhibitions in the US and Middle East including Earth & Ink, Gallery 108, Boston, Massachusetts, 2003; Attar from Baghdad, 4 Walls Gallery, Amman, 2005; and The Moon Follows Us, Sultan Gallery, Kuwait, 2009. He has participated in numerous international group exhibitions and biennales including the Cairo Biennale, 2001; Extending Vision, Triangle Art Residence, New York, 2004; and Iraqi Artists in Exile, Station Museum, Houston, Texas, 2008.

In 2009, he was nominated for COSMOPOLITE, The Best Thirty Ideas Above Water, Prize for Hollands Bridge, Amsterdam. In 2001, Kufi launched a virtual online project with Talal Refit titled Wisdom Machine. He lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Born 1958, Thee Qar

Hanaa Malallah received a diploma in Graphic Art from the Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad, in 1979, followed by a BA in Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts, Baghdad, in 1988, and an MA in Painting from Baghdad University in 2000. In 2005, Malallah completed her PhD in the Philosophy of Painting, at Baghdad University, where she wrote her thesis titled Logic Order in Ancient Mesopotamian Painting. She also holds a postgraduate certificate in Islamic and modern art from SOAS, London.

Malallah was the chair of the graphic art department at the Institute of Fine Arts and was a lecturer at the fine arts department, Baghdad University. She is known for her ‘ruins technique’, which she developed after studying under the instruction of Shakir Hassan Al Said, an artistic practice that involves the burning and tearing of material to create compositions.

She has held numerous solo exhibitions including Schedules and Signals, Athar Gallery, Baghdad, Iraq, 1998; Vivid Ruins, The Mosaic Rooms, Qattan Foundation, London, 2009; and Iraq: How, Where, For Whom? (with KennardPhillips), The Mosaic Rooms, Qattan Foundation, London, 2012. Her international group exhibitions include Contemporary Iraqi Art, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, 2000; and Iraq’s Past Speaks to the Present, British Museum, London, 2008.

Her work is held in collections including the Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah; Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad; Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman; and British Museum, London. She lives and works in London.

Born 1940, Tikrit

Rafa Al-Nasiri graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad, with a diploma in Painting in 1959. From 1959–63, he studied printmaking at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, in Beijing, receiving a BA in the subject. Nasiri’s exposure to Chinese art, more specifically the ink paintings of Qi Baishi and the works of his teacher Huang Yu Yi, has had a lasting impact on his work and his exploration of calligraphic forms and words.

In 1969, he received a scholarship from the Gulbenkian Foundation to study at The Gravura, Lisbon, receiving his diploma in printmaking the same year. Upon his return to Baghdad, he co-founded the New Vision Group and was later head of the graphic art department at the Institute of Fine Arts. Nasiri also taught at the University of Yarmouk and the University of Bahrain for a number of years. He has been highly influential in encouraging later generations of Iraqi artists to explore the art of printmaking.

He has also written many essays and books on modern Arab art, more specifically, graphic art. More recently, his works have been inspired by the poetry of al-Mutanabbi, al-Jawahiri, Mahmoud Darwish, Etel Adnan and May Muzaffar.

He has exhibited extensively throughout the Middle East, Europe and Asia including solo exhibitions at ITU Gallery, Hong Kong, 1963; Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, 1981; Galerie Faris, Paris, 1983; Sharjah Museum, Sharjah, 1997; and Green Art Gallery, Dubai, 2008. He has also participated in international group exhibitions such as Word into Art, British Museum, London, 2006; and Modernism and Iraq, Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, 2009.

His work is held in collections including Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, and Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman. He lives and works in Amman.

Mahmoud Obaidi graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, Baghdad, with a BA in Fine Art, in 1990. In 1996, he received a diploma in New Media from Ryerson University, Toronto and, in 1998, a further diploma in Film Producing from HIF Film Academy, Los Angeles. He also holds an MA in Fine Art from the University of Guelph, Ontario (1999). Obaidi is particularly interested in exploring the conceptual side of art, and has noted that the concept behind his work often determines his choice of media.

His solo exhibitions include the Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, 1990; Darat Al-Funun, 1995; Stevenson Hall, Toronto, 1998; 4 Walls Gallery, Amman, 2002, and Fair Skies, Agial Gallery, Art Dubai, Dubai, 2010. He has participated in festivals, biennales and group exhibitions including Contemporary Arab Artists, Darat Al-Funun, Amman, 1995; KHOJ International Festival, Delhi, 1999; Dafatir: Contemporary Iraqi Book Art, University of North Texas University, Denton, Texas, travelling exhibition, 2005–08; Modernism and Iraq, Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 2009; and Beyond the War, LTMH Gallery, New York, 2010.

His work is held in public collections including Mathaf: Museum of Modern Arab Art, Doha; Museums of Modern Art, Amman, Baghdad and Quebec; Sharjah Museum; and Tidi Gallery Collection, New York. He lives and works in Doha and Toronto.

Born in Baghdad, 1960

Kareem Risan studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Baghdad, graduating with a BA in Painting in 1988. His work reflects his experiences of living through war and invasion; he was a soldier during the Gulf War and witnessed the post-2003 US invasion of Iraq.

His solo exhibitions include the Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, 1992; Dar Al-Mashriq Gallery, Amman, 1997; Al- Riwaq Gallery, Bahrain, 2005, and Gallery Hittite, Toronto, 2009. Risan has also participated in numerous international group exhibitions including Between the Tigris and Euphrates, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, 1988; The Chair Exhibition, Darat Al-Funun, Amman, 1994; The Broken Letter: Arab Contemporary Artists, Kunst Gallery, Darmstadt, 2003; Dafatir: Contemporary Iraqi Book Art, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, travelling exhibition, 2005–08; Word into Art, British Museum, London, 2006; Modernism and Iraq, Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 2009; Iraqi Artists in Exile, Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, Texas, 2008; and Beyond the War, LTMH Gallery, New York, 2010.

Risan’s work is held in the collections of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman; Kinda Foundation, Saudi Arabia; British Museum, London; and Athar Gallery, Baghdad. He has lived and worked in Toronto since 2006.

Delair Shaker studied ceramics at the Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad, receiving his diploma in 1990. The son of prominent Iraqi ceramicist Saad Shaker, Delair Shaker was exposed to the arts from a young age. He left Baghdad during the 1990s to live in Amman, where he taught art and later became head of the art department at the Ahliyyah School for Girls. In 2005, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona.

His solo exhibitions include The Journey, Private Hall, Amman, 2006; Traces of Time, Karim Gallery, Amman, 2008; Tales of Flames, Olney Room Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona, 2010; and Sand Trails, Paul Scott Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2001. He has participated in many Iraqi and international group exhibitions including the Al-Wasiti Festival, Baghdad, 1992, where he won an award for his work; Homage to Shakir Hassan and Ismail Fattah, Athar Gallery, Baghdad, 2005; From Baghdad to New York: Part II of the Iraqi Phoenix Group, Pomegranate Gallery, New York, 2006; and Modernism and Iraq, Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, 2009.

He lives and works in Phoenix, Arizona and Amman.

Born 1944, Basra

Ali Talib studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad, receiving his BA in Painting in 1966. After graduating, he joined the faculty of the Institute of Fine Arts where he worked as a lecturer throughout the 1970s. Talib was a founding member of the Innovationists and after moving to his birthplace, Basra, for a short time, he formed the Shadow Group. He went on to study graphic design at Helwan University, Cairo, where he received his MA in 1980. From 1991–97, he taught at University of Yarmouk in Jordan.

Talib held his first solo exhibition at Mubarakia Gallery, Kuwait, in 1964, while he was still a student at the Academy. Further solo shows include National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, 1976; Gallery d’Art 50x70, Beirut, 1994; De Vrije Academie, The Hague, 2003; United Nations Human Settlements Programme, Barcelona, 2004; Green Art Gallery, Dubai, 2008; and Karim Gallery, Amman, 2009. He has participated in biennales and triennales as well as group shows including Four Iraqi Artists, Alif Gallery, Washington, DC, 1994; Cité International des Arts Exhibition, Paris, 2004; and Iraqi Artists in Exile, Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, Texas, 2008.

In 1986 he was awarded First Prize at the First Baghdad International Festival of Plastic Arts, and First Prize at the Second Sharjah Biennial, in 1995. His work is held in collections including Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha and Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman. He lives and works in Amman and The Hague.

Born 1963, Baghdad

Nazar Yahya studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, Baghdad, graduating in 1987. Like many of his contemporaries, Yahya witnessed the wars and post-2003 invasion of Iraq, experiences which he explores in his art work.

He has held solo exhibitions at Al-Riwaq Gallery, Baghdad, 1994; French Cultural Centre, Doha, 2000 and 2002; Orfali Gallery, Amman, 2004; Karim Gallery, Amman, 2007; and Sultan Gallery, Kuwait, 2008. He has participated in group exhibitions including Environment and Surroundings in Iraqi Art, Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, 1997; Three Iraqi Artists, Agial Gallery, Beirut, 1999; Asian Art Biennale, Dhaka, 2002; Dafatir: Contemporary Iraqi Book Art, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, travelling exhibition, 2005–08; Word into Art, British Museum, London, 2006; My Home Land, Art Sawa Gallery, Dubai, 2010; and ARTIFACTUAL realities, Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, Texas, 2012.

Yahya’s awards include three artistic awards he received for Homage to Jewad Selim in 1997 and First Prize for Painting, Emaar, Dubai,