Dia Azzawi, born in Baghdad in 1939, is an Iraqi artist whose impressive oeuvre negotiates new relationships between the past and the present, the local and the international. Though he has resided...
DIA AL AZZAWI, Iraq (1939)
Bio
Written by WAFA ROZ
Dia Azzawi, born in Baghdad in 1939, is an Iraqi artist whose impressive oeuvre negotiates new relationships between the past and the present, the local and the international. Though he has resided in London for many years, the artist’s training took place in his native Iraq. He graduated from Baghdad University in 1962 with a degree in archaeology and earned a Diploma in Fine Arts from the Baghdad Institute of Fine Arts in 1964. After completing his studies, he worked for the Department of Antiquities in Baghdad until his move to the English capital in 1976. Azzawi’s paintings incorporate motifs from ancient Mesopotamian visual culture, Islamic traditions of calligraphy, and Western modernist principles of abstraction to comment on the political instability of the Middle East and reflect upon the artist’s experiences living between cultures.
Azzawi was politically active from an early age, and from the very beginning, faced the consequences for his passionate self-expression. In fact, the young artist was expelled from school in 1956, when he was seen demonstrating in support of Nasser’s nationalization of the Suez Canal. However, his artistic skills ultimately earned him re-admission; he was called back after King Faysal II visited his school and admired his paintings. The monarch was so impressed by young Azzawi’s talent that he invited him to his palace, promising to send him to study art in Italy. The fall of the monarchy in 1958 prevented the king from fulfilling his promise, however, and Azzawi did not ultimately study in Italy. Azzawi once again faced punishment for his political opinions in 1963, when his open opposition to the Baath coup leads to three months of imprisonment.
Azzawi’s lifelong involvement with Iraqi artists’ groups began in the 1960s with the encouragement of his first and most significant mentor, Hafidh al-Droubi. Al-Droubi, a giant in the arts community of Baghdad, brought Azzawi into the Impressionists art collective, of which he was the director. Azzawi was later associated with the Baghdad Group of Modern Art and Istilham Al Turath (“Inspiration from Tradition”), both of which were formed by Jawad Selim, and Jamaat Al Baoud Al Wahid (“One Dimension Group”), founded by Shaker Hassan Al Said. In 1968, Azzawi partnered with artists Ismail Fatah al-Turk, Muhammed Muhr al-Din, Hashimi al-Samarchi, Salih Jumai’e, and Rafa al-Nasiri to establish the Jamaat Al Ruyya Al Jadidah (“New Vision Group”), which released a manifesto arguing that art should be stylistically free but directly engaged with contemporary sociopolitical realities. In the increasingly repressive cultural regime of Baathist Iraq, New Vision proposed art as a site for speaking the truth in conditions of untruth. The group also called for a critical reassessment of cultural heritage and its role in art, arguing that “heritage is not a prison, a static phenomenon or a force capable of repressing creativity so long as we have the freedom to accept or challenge its norms.”
In keeping with New Vision ideals, Azzawi’s work has engaged creatively with politics and cultural heritage throughout his career. In the early 1960s, he made figurative images and sculptures with deep connections to mythology and history, inspired by Sumerian traditions such as the epic of Gilgamesh. In the 1970s, he produced what he called Al Qaseedah Al Marsumah (“the drawn poem”), conceptualized as a “visual extension” of poetry such as that in the pre-Islamic Al Muaalaqat al Sabaa. This work developed into Dafatir, artists’ books that were hand-painted and calligraphed, that gave visual form to poems by contemporary poets such as Mahmoud Darwish, Al-Seyab, and Adonis. During this period, Azzawi was moved by political causes beyond Iraq, especially the liberation of Palestine. In response to the events of Black September in 1970, for example, he produced an art book based on the journal of a freedom fighter during the siege of the Jebel Hussein refugee camp in Amman, entitled A Witness of Our Times (1972). After esteemed Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani, who was a close friend of Azzawi’s, was assassinated by Mossad in 1972, Azzawi created The Land of Sad Oranges, a set of black and white drawings depicting limp bodies and faceless heads that was based on Kanafani’s short story of the same name. Azzawi’s work would continue to tackle tragedies from throughout the Arab world, perhaps best exemplified by his epic mural-size drawing Sabra & Shatila (1982-1983). This massive work depicts the infamous massacre of Palestinian refugees by Israeli and Phalangist troops during the Lebanese civil war and has drawn a comparison to Picasso’s Guernica.
In 1975, Azzawi left Iraq for the first time to participate in a printmaking workshop in Austria. Inspired by this experience and deeply frustrated by Baath censorship, Azzawi decided to pursue further studies in printmaking in London, where he settled in 1976. While the artist has remained in London, he continues to draw equally from Arab and Western visual vocabularies. Azzawi has incorporated abstraction into his work since the 1960s, and many of his works might evoke the oeuvres of Picasso, Braque, and Leger. He is also a significant contributor to the development of Hurufiyya, a set of aesthetic principles for the use of Islamic calligraphy in modern art, apparent in his integration of the Arabic letter in bold compositions of vibrant colors, expressive lines, and geometric forms. In addition to painting, Azzawi creates small and large- scale sculptures in geometric and organic shapes, often inspired by natural objects such as the desert rose. His work exploits a wide variety of materials, including terracotta, wood, bronze, and polyester resin.
After more than forty years in self-imposed exile, Azzawi still works and resides in London.
Sources
Faruki Samar, Dia Azzawi: Something Different. Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Publications Department of Meem Gallery with Art Advisory Associated Ltd. 2015.
Faruki Samar, Art in Iraq Today. Milano, Italy: Skira Editore S.p.A.2011
Dia Azzawi, Ballad’s to Bilad Al Sawad, By Nada Shabout. Accessed September 7 ,2017. http://www.contemporarypractic...
“Dia Al Azzawi: Political Landscapes.” Aesthetica Magazine. Accessed September 7,2017.http://www.aestheticamagazine....
“Frieze Dia al Azzawi, Selected works,1964-73.” Ruya Foundation. Accessed September 8 ,2017.https://ruyafoundation.org/en/2014/10/frieze-masters-dia-al-azzawi/
“Dia – al Azzawi: Iraqi Artist Blossoms in Exile. Al-Akhbar English. Accessed September 8 ,2017. http://english.al-akhbar.com/n...
“Dia-Al Azzawi Biography”. Mathaf Encyclopedia of Modern Art and the Arab World. Accessed September 8, 2017. http://www.encyclopedia.mathaf...
“Befriended by a king, arrested, then forced to fight-Artist Dia Azzawi on the destruction of his beloved Iraq”. The Telegraph. Accessed September 8 ,2017.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/art...
Dia Azzawi- CV. Accessed October 3, 2017. http://www.azzawiart.com/cvres...
‘I felt I was more connected in a way with Arab art.’ by Martin Gayford.Accessed October 3,2017. https://www.apollo-magazine.com/i-felt-i-was-more-connected-in-a-way-with-arab-art/
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CV
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024
Venice Biennale – A Wolf Howls: Memories of a Poet, Central Pavilion, Giardini, Italy
2023
Imagination Released, Karim Gallery, Amman, Jordan
2022
Painting Poetry, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England, United Kingdom
Mission of Destruction (2004 - 07), Meem Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2021
The Lebanon Works, Meem Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2020
Dia Al Azzawi, Art Dubai Portrait, Online
2018
Azzawi, Sabra and Shatila Massacres, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
Massacres and Joy of Life. Dia Al-Azzawi, the Arab Master of Prints, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2017
DIA AL-AZZAWI, RETROSPECTIVE, DE 1963 A DEMAIN, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris France
Sculptures, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2016
I am the cry who will give voice to me? Dia al-Azzawi: A Retrospective (from 1963 until tomorrow), Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar
2015
Recent Paintings and Sculptures, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2014
Massacres et Joie de vivre, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2013
Bilad al Sawad and other works, Art Paris Art Fair, Grand Palais, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
An Itinerary3. Painting and Poetry, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2012
An Itinerary.1.Paintings on canvas and wood (1963-2011), Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France
An Itinerary. 2. Gouaches on paper (1976-2006), Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2009
Sixth Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Festival, Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Retrospective, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2006
Kalemmat Gallery, Aleppo, Syria
4 Walls Gallery, Amman, Jordan
Dar al-Funoon Gallery, Kuwait
Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2005
Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2004
Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2003
Palestine and Mahmoud Darwish, Cite du Livre, Aix-en-Provence, France
2001
Retrospective, Institut de Monde Arabe, Paris, France
1996
Art Center, Bahrain
1995
Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
1994
Al-Manar Gallery, Casablanca, Morocco
Al-Wasiti Gallery, Casablanca, Morocco
Galerie d’Art 50x70, Beirut, Lebanon
Al- Sayed Gallery, Damascus, Syria
1993
Asilah Festival , Asilah, Morocco
Flandria Gallery, Tanger, Morocco
1991
Galerie D’art 50x70, Beirut, Lebanon
Galerie des Arts, Tunis, Tunisia
1990
Alif Gallery, Washington, D.C., United States of America
Galeri Nakita, Stockholm, Sweden
Vanazff Gallery, Gothenburg, Sweden
Galerie des Art, Tunis, Tunisia
1988
Galerie Claudine Planque, Lausanne, Switzerland
1986
Galerie Faris, Paris, France
Royal Cultural Center, Amman, Jordan
1984
Alif Gallery, Washington., United States of America
1983
National Council for Art and Culture, Kuwait
1980
Galerie Faris, Paris, France
Galerie Centrale, Geneva, Switzerland
1979
Al-Riwaq Gallery, Baghdad, Iraq
1978
Patrick Seale Gallery, London, United Kingdom
1977
Sultan Gallery, Kuwait
1976
Galerie Nadhar, Casablanca, Morocco
1975
National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
1974
Sultan Gallery, Kuwait
Contact Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
1973
Raslan Gallery, Tripoli, Lebanon
1971
National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
Sultan Gallery, Kuwait
1969
Exhibition of Paintings of Dia Azzawi, National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
Sultan Gallery, Kuwait
Dia Azzawi, Gallery One, Beirut, Lebanon
1968
Exhibition of paintings by Dhia al Azzawi, National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
1967
Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture by Dia Azzawi, Hall of the Iraqi Artists Society, Baghdad, Iraq
1966
Gallery One, Beirut, Lebanon
1965
First exhibition of paintings by Dia Azzawi at Al-Wasiti Gallery, Baghdad, Iraq
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023
The Little Prince of Gaza, Ramzi and Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut, Lebano
Beirut And The Golden Sixties: A Manifesto Of Fragility, Mathaf, Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar
Masterpieces, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
GAZA, Where Our Humanity Dies., Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2022
58th Carnegie International: Is it morning for you yet?, Carnegie Museum of Art, United States of America
2020
Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950-1980s, Grey Art Gallery, New York University; Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Illinois; Herbert F. Johnson Museum, Cornell University, New York; McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College; University of Michigan Museum of Art; US
2019
Theater of Operations: The Gulf Wars 1991-2011, MoMA, New York, US
Portrait de l'Oiseau-Qui-N'Existe-Pas, IMA, Paris
Objects of imagination, Jordan National Gallery, Jordan
A century in flux: highlights from the Barjeel Art Foundation: chapter II, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
A la plume, au pinceau, au crayon, IMA, Paris
2018
Masterpieces, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France
A Century in Flux, Barjeel Art Foundation, United Arab Emirates
Le Monde Arabe Vu Par Ses Artistes, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
Millennia of Creativity, NABU Museum, El Heri, Lebanon
Evolution Generation, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar
2017
Modern Art from the Middle East, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, USA
Night was paper and we were ink, Barjeel Art Foundation, UAE
2016
The Sea Suspended: Arab Modernism from the Barjeel Collection, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Iran
Hurufiyya: Art & Identity, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt
Home Ground, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
The Short Century, Sharjah Museum, UAE
2015
Rituals of Signs and Transitions (1975-1995), Darat al Funun, Jordan
Picasso in Contemporary Art, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany
2014
Arab Modernities, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France
Post-Picasso: Contemporary Reactions, Picasso Museum, Barcelona, Spain
Landscape and Arab Modernity, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France
Sky Over the East, Emirates Palace, UAE
Mathaf Collection Summary part 1, Mathaf, Doha
A Tribute To Rafa Nasiri, Nabad Art Gallery, Amman, Jordan
2013
D’Orient et d’Occident, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
Tajreed (Abstract Arab Art),Contemporary Arab Platform ( CAP), Kuwait
Modern Iraqi Art: A Collection, Meem Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
RE: ORIENT, Barjeel Art Foundation, United Arab Emirates
2012
Fan al Mahjar, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France
Masters of the Tondo: Part IV, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris,France
2011
Art in Iraq Today: Part IV, Meem Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Mashreq-Maghreb: Paintings, Sculptures and Prints, Contemporary Arab ( CAP), Kuwait
Art in Iraq Today: Conclusion, Meem Gallery and Solidere, Beirut, Lebanon
2010
Interventions, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar
2009
Modernism and Iraq, Wallach Art Gallery Columbia University, New York, United States of America
2008
Word into Art, British Museum, Dubai International Financial Center (DIFIC), Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Iraq’s Past Speaks to the Present, British Museum, London, United Kingdom
Iraqi Artists in Exile, Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, Texas United States of America
2006
Portraits of the Bird, Bastia Festival of Arts, Paris, France
Word into Art, British Museum, London, United Kingdom
2005
Portraits of the Bird. Books and Drawings, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris,France
Contemporary Iraqi Book Art, Unversity of North Texas Art Gallery, Denton, Texas, United States of America.
Improvisation: Seven Iraqi Artists, Bissan Gallery, Doha, Al-Riwaq Gallery, Manama, Bahrein
4 Walls Gallery, Amman, Jordan
Homage to Shafic Abboud, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris,France
2004
Art Books and Paintings, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2003
Colas Foundation,Boulogne, France
Broken Letter,Contemporary Art from Arab Countries, Kunsthalle Darmstadt, Germany
2002
Masters of Tondo, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
The Kinda Foundation Collection, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
2001
Machreq-Maghreb: Paintings and Books,Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
1998
Al-Azzawi and Nasiri, Galerie La Teinturerie, Paris, France
1997
Five Visual Interpretations, Green Art Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
1989
Contemporary Art from the Islamic World, Barbican Centre, London, United Kingdom
Arab Graphic Art, National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL), Kuwait
1988
Olympiad of Art, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea
Al-Azzawi, al-Jumaie,Nasiri, Kufa Gallery, London, United Kingdom
1987
Third International Print Biennale, Taiwan
1986
Sematic Museum, Harvard University, Massachusetts, United States of America
Contemporary Arab Art, The Mall Gallery, London, United Kingdom
1985
Musée Hubert D’Uckerman, Grenoble, France
1984
British International Print Biennale, Bradford, United Kingdom
First Arab Contemporary Exhibition, Museum of Modern Art , Tunis, Tunisia
1983
Contemporary Arab Artists Part 3,Irai Cultural Centre, London, United Kingdom
1981
Art 12’81,Galerie Faris, Basel, Switzerland
Foire International D’Art Contemporain (FIAC),Galerie Faris, Paris, France
Seventh International Grafik Triennial, Frechen, Germany
1980
Third World Biennial of Graphic Art, Iraqi Cultural Centre, London and National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
The Influence of Arabic Calligraphy on Modern Arab Art, Iraq Cultural Centre, London, United Kingdom
Seventh International Exhibition of Drawing, Rijeka, Croatia
Twelve Contemporary Arab Artists,Galerie Faris, Paris, France
Salon de Mai, Paris, France
Salon d’Automne, Espace Cardin, Paris, France
1979
Sao Paolo Biennial, Brazil
The Baghdad International Poster Exhibition, Iraq Cultural Centre, London and National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
Three Iraqi Artists, al-Riwaq Gallery, Baghdad, Iraq
1978
Contemporary Arab Graphic Art,Iraqi Cultural Centre, London, United Kingdom
Seven Iraqi Artists, Iraqi Cultural Centre, London, United Kingdom
International Exhibition of Art for Palestine, Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon
1977
Contemporary Iraqi Art, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait
Six Iraqi Artists, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
Contemporary Iraqi Art (III),Bonn, Paris, London, Tunis
1976
Second Arab Art Biennial, Rabat, Morocco
Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy
Contemporary Iraqi Art, Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris, France
The Fifth International Exhibition of Drawings, Rijeka, Yugoslavia
International Association of Art: Artists against Racism, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
1975
Iraqi Graphic Art Exhibition, Iraqi Cultural Centre, Beirut, Lebanon
Seventh International Painting Festival, Cagnes-sur-Mer, France
International Summer Academy, Salzburg, Austria
Collective Graphic Art Exhibition, L’Atelier Gallery, Rabat, Morocco
Collective Graphic Art Exhibition, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
1974
Seven Iraqi Artists,National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
1973
Six Syrian Artists, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad and Arab Cultural Centre, Damascus, Syria
1972
Four Iraqi Artists, National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
Three Iraqi Artists, Gallery One, Beirut, Lebanon
Iraqi Contemporary Art Today, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
Five Iraqi Artists, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
Fourth International Poster Biennial, Warsaw, Poland
Contemporary Arab Art, Nicosia, Cyprus
1971
Four Iraqi Artists, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
Contemporary Iraqi Art, Kuwait
Contemporary Iraqi Art, Mirbad Poetry Festival, Basra, Iraq
1970
The Iraqi Poster Exhibition, Baghdad, Iraq
1969
Nahwa al-Rouiyya al-Jadeeda, Baghdad, Iraq
1968
First International Triennial, New Delhi, India
Seventh Annual Exhibition of the Impressionist Group, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
1967
Annual Exhibition of the Iraqi Impressionists Group, Exhibition Hall of the Iraqi Artists Society, Damascus Street, Baghdad, Iraq
1966
Carreras Carven “A”Arab Art Exhibition, traveling exhibition, Cairo, Manama, Kuwait, Baghdad, Amman, Damascus, Beirut, London, Paris, Rome
1965
Eighth Annual Exhibition of Iraqi Artists’ Society, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
Fifth Annual Exhibition of Impressionists Group, National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
L'exposition itinérante de peinture, Galerie Nationale d'Art Moderne, Baghdad, Rome, Budapest, Vienna, Madrid, London, and Sursock Museum, Beirut
1964
Seventh Annual Exhibition of the Iraqi Artists’ Society,National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
Selected Writings
Lawn Yajma’ al-Basar: Nusus wa Hiwarat fi al –Fann al-Tashkili (Color Brings Together Vision:Articles and Dialogues in the Visual Arts)
“Arab Graphic Art” Ur Magazine (London),no.2 (November-December 1978): 47-55
“Poetry a Visual Text.”Mawakif (London),no. 72( Summer 1992):134-37
Fann al – mulsaqat fi al-‘Iraq: dirasah fi bidayatuha wa tatawurruh,1939-1973 (The Art of the Poster in Iraq: a Study of its beginning development).Baghdad:Ministry of Information,1974
“Manifesto:Toward a New Vision”(1969) In Al-Bayanat al Fanniyyah fi al-Iraq ( Art Manifestos in Iraq),ed.Shakir Hassan Al Said.Baghdad:Ministry of Information 1973
“Al-Shi’ir wa al-Insan:Fi al-asatir al sumuriyya wa al babiliyya” ( Poetry and Man: On Sumerian and Babylonian Legends ) , Al-Amilun fi al-Naft 81 (December,1968),2-6
Collections
L’Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar
National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
The Khalid Shoman Foundation, Darat Al Funun, Amman, Jordan
Dar al-Anda, Amman, Jordan
Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan
Ibrahimi collection, Amman, Jordan
NABU Museum, El Heri, Lebanon
Ramzi and Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon
Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
Kamel Lazaar Foundation, Tunisia
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Documents
DIA AL-AZZAWI PAINTING POETRY
Francesca Leoni
Ashmolean Museum, English/Arabic, 2022
EXHIBITION BOOKLET: 15 December 2022 – 11 June 2023
روافد مع الفنان التشكيلي ضياء العزاوي
أحمد علي الزين
Arabic, 2005
/DHIA Al AZZAWI Exhibition of painting and scultpure معرض رسم ونحت ضياء العزاوي
MAIA Mathaf, Arabic/English, 1967
First Exhibition of Paintings by Dia AL Azzawi
Al Wasiti Gallery
MAIA Mathaf, Arabic/English, 1965
Exhibition of Painting by Dhia Al Azzawi
The National Gallery of Modern Art
MAIA Mathaf, Arabic/English, 1968
الجمعية الفنانين العراقية المعرض السنوي الثامن
MAIA Mathaf, Arabic, 1965
Exhibition Cataloguern
معرض الانطباعيين العراقيين الخامس
Society of Iraqi Artists
MAIA Mathaf, Arabic/English, 1965
Exhibition Cataloguern
المعرض السنوي السابع
Society of Iraqi Artists
MAIA Mathaf, Arabic/English, 1964
Exhibition Cataloguern
L'exposition Itenerante de Peinture
Sursock Museum/Galerie National d'art moderne
MAIA Mathaf, French/Arabic, 1965
Exhibition Cataloguern
"The Iraq’s Past Speaks to the Present: Contemporary Art from Iraq and Syria at the British Museum"
Gemma Tully
Contemporary Practices, English, 2008
Exhibition Review
Iraq’s Past Speaks to the Present
The British Museum, Arabic/English, 2008
Exhibition Catalogue
Art Dubai Portrait Exhibitions
Art Dubai
English, 2020
Exhibition Catalogue
Azzawi Belkahia Liza Fattah Henein Melehi
Galerie Faris
MAIA Mathaf, French
Exhibition Catalog
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Press
Art Dubai 2024 considers community and belonging
HADANI DITMARS
www.wallpaper.com, English, 2024
What to see at Art Dubai 2024 this weekend, an oasis of art, design and ideas
Painting Poetry: Iraqi artist Dia al-Azzawi exhibits at Oxford's Ashmolean
Victoria Brittain
www.middleeasteye.net, English, 2023
Azzawi's work focuses on the horrors of Iraq's many recent tragedies, including the US-led invasion in 2003
Art Dubai Modern to explore historical Soviet influence on Global South
Razmig Bedirian
English, 2024
The art fair will take place at Madinat Jumeirah from Friday to Sunday
Art Dubai rides its buzz to strong sales of contemporary and digital works
Melissa Gronlund
www.thenationalnews.com, English, 2024
A bulk of the purchases from this year's event came from private foundations and collectors
ARTISTS ANNOUNCED FOR 60TH VENICE BIENNALE
www.artforum.com, English, 2024
Foreigners Everywhere: Venice Biennale Announces Artists For 2024 Edition
www.artlyst.com, English, 2024
Masters of regional modern art in frame at Christie’s sale in Dubai
Maan Jalal
www.thenationalnews.com, English, 2024
After successful launch last year, auction house brings back free exhibition promoting diverse artists and shared ideas
Olympia Auctions: Modern and Contemporary African and Middle Eastern Art Auction
www.artafricamagazine.org, English, 2024
The Modern & Contemporary African and Middle Eastern Art Auction, which will take place on May 1st, will feature celebrated artists and emerging talent from across Africa and the Middle East.
THE IMA PAYS TRIBUTE TO FRANCE AND CLAUDE LEMAND, GENEROUS PATRONS AND PASSIONATE COMPANIONS OF ARTISTS
Clotilde Scordia
www.happening.media, English, 2024
How Contemporary Artists Have Remixed Picasso, From Feminist Revisions to New ‘Guernicas’
Alex Greenberger
www.artnews.com, English, 2023
Christie's Middle East is auctioning works by Etel Adnan, Mohammed Kazem and more
Razmig Bedirian
www.thenationalnews.com, English, 2023
The collection is being partly exhibited at the auction house's DIFC location until Tuesday
Barjeel's new Sharjah show shines light on overlooked modern artists, many of them women
Razmig Bedirian
www.thenationalnews.com, English, 2023
Parallel Histories features 78 artworks never before seen in the emirate
BEING DIA AL-AZZAWI: A LEBANESE PERSPECTIVE
www.selectionarts.com, English, 2023
Christie's to auction 48 'spectacular' pieces from esteemed Dalloul Collection of Arab art
Razmig Bedirian
www.thenationalnews.com, English, 2023
The sale features work by artists including Mahmoud Said, Mohamed Melehi and Etel Adnan, with a selection of pieces on show in Dubai from October 23 to 26
How much will the Middle East art market be affected by political events?
Melissa Gronlund
www.thenationalnews.com, English, 2023
Sotheby's weathered a tough sale but strength in the market remains
Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern art online auction returns to Dubai this May
www.artdaily.com, English, 2023
On This Land, an exhibition in Alserkal Avenue, is a 'triumph of Palestinian culture'
Razmig Bedirian
www.thenationalnews.com, English, 2023
The show, which comes as a response to the Israel-Gaza war, is running at Concrete until Sunday
2nd Hacer Noche, “Promised Land”
Kim Córdova
www.e-flux.com, English, 2022
Hacer Noche—an independent biennial directed by a former employee of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs
9 Highlights from the 58th Carnegie International in Pittsburgh
Paul Laster
www.galeriemagazine.com, English, 2022
rnThe long-running art exhibition features works by LaToya Ruby Frazier, Édgar Calel, Dia al-Azzawi, and Melike Kara
Berlin art show probes Beirut’s fabled Golden Age
Maghie Ghali
www.thenationalnews.com, English, 2022
Exhibition is divided into five thematic sections, which dissect socio-economic movements reflected in art
An expert guide to 10 radical 20th-century modern art movements you may not know about, but definitely should
Jessica Lack
www.christies.com, English, 2022
Author of Global Art Jessica Lack introduces 10 pioneering modern art movements born out of political engagement, decolonisation, marginalisation and conflict
Ithra opens 21,39 show in Dhahran exploring local artists in a new light
Melissa Gronlund
www.thenationalnews.com, English, 2022
The Saudi Art Council's annual exhibition has travelled to the Eastern Province for the first time
A Groundbreaking New Survey of Abstract Painting From the Arab World Adds a Vibrant Chapter to Art History
Taylor Dafoe
www.news.artnet.com, English, 2020
Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s
Grey Art Gallery NY, English, 2020
Sharjah Museums Authority goes digital during Covid-19 crisis
tradearabia.com, English, 2020
Middle Eastern artists look to their letterboxes for lockdown inspiration
Jack Dutton
thenational.ae, English, 2020
Art Dubai was online only this year, and there were 53,520 visits
Alexandra Chaves
thenational.ae, English, 2020
Tate's huge 'Guernica of the Arab world' is recreated in tapestry so it can travel the world
AIMEE DAWSON
theartnewspaper.com, English, 2019
ضياء العزاوي: الفن إعلان وجود
محمود منير
alaraby.co.uk, Arabic, 2019
Barjeel Art Foundation's touring exhibition to challenge how we think about modern abstract art
Alexandra Chaves
www.thenationalnews.com, English, 2019
ثمانينية ضياء العزاوي.. "أيقونة" التشكيل العراقي والعربي
هاني حوراني
diffah.alaraby.co.uk, Arabic, 2019
التشكيلي ضياء العزاوي السائر في رؤياه
حميد سعيد
alarab.co.uk, Arabic, 2019
معرض "كائنات المخيال" للخزف العربي المعاصر في المتحف الوطني الأردني للفنون الجميلة
Ibrahimi Collection, Arabic, 2019
Abu Dhabi Focus podcast, episode two: How Saudi artists are driving political change
theartnewspaper.com, English, 2017
Epic Painting Dia Azzawi in conversation with Sheyma Buali
Sheyma Buali
ibraaz.org, English, 2017
Befriended by a king, arrested, then forced to fight... Artist Dia Azzawi on the destruction of his beloved Iraq
Saphora Smith
telegraph.co.uk, English, 2016
Dia al-Azzawi: Iraqi Artist Blossoms in Exile
Hussein Bin Hamza
english.al-akhbar.com, English, 2012
Dia al-Azzawi's "Sabra and Shatila Massacre"
Maymanah Farhat
jadaliyya.com, English, 2012
IN THE LIBRARY WITH DIA AZZAWI
India Stoughton
Selections Magazine 41, English, 2017
Dia Al-Azzawi, Un itinéraire. Gouaches (1978-2006)
claude-lemand.com, French, 2012
Press Release
المدن - الشرق والشباب نجوم آرت باريس
أوراس زيباوي
almodon.com, Arabic, 2013
Dia Al-Azzawi, Peinture et Poésie
Espace Claude Lemand, French, 2013
Theater of Operations: The Gulf Wars 1991–2011: A significant exhibition at Museum of Modern Art’s contemporary arts center
Clare Hurley
www.wsws.org, English, 2020
A Groundbreaking New Survey of Abstract Painting From the Arab World Adds a Vibrant Chapter to Art History
Taylor Dafoe
www.news.artnet.com, English, 2020
The curators of “Taking Shape: Abstraction From the Arab World, 1950s–1980s” explain the mission behind the show.
The Art of War in “Theater of Operations”
Peter Schjeldahl
English, 2019
Can an exhibition about the Gulf wars provide new ways of seeing such dismal subject matter?rn
Theater of Operations: The Gulf Wars 1991–2011. MoMA PS1, New York
ROBERT SLIFKIN
English, 2019
What MoMA PS1’s ‘Theater of Operations’ Can ???? Featured in Issue 209 Teach Us About the Killing of Qasem Soleimani
Melissa Gronlund
www.frieze.com, English, 2020
Or, why the Gulf conflicts never really went away
These Artists Refuse to Forget the Wars in Iraq
Jason Farago and Tim Arango
NEW YORK TIMES, English, 2019
A powerful new show at MoMA PS1, featuring artists from the U.S. and the Persian Gulf, revisits two conflicts most Americans have tuned out.
AZZAWI, SABRA ET SHATILA. Exposition du 11 avril au 23 septembre 2018
Galerie Claude Lemand, French, 2018
DIA AL-AZZAWI, SCULPTURES.
Galerie Claude Lemand, French, 2017
DIA AL-AZZAWI, Black Roots, 2001 + Blue Landscape, 2015.
Galerie Claude Lemand, French, 2017
DIA AL-AZZAWI, RETROSPECTIVE, DE 1963 A DEMAIN. Exposition du 15 Octobre 2016 au 16 Avril 2017.
Galerie Claude Lemand, French, 2017
Qatar retrospective exhibits Iraqi artist Dia Azzawi
Andrew Chappelle
www.aljazeera.com, English, 2016
Dia Azzawi’s retrospective in Doha is a “manifesto” against events following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.
A TRIBUTE TO RAFA NASIRI
www.nabd.com, English, 2014
The exhibition includes selected works by three groups of Iraqi artists
Le Corps découvert, exposition à l’Institut du monde arabe, du 27 mars au 16 juillet 2012 Par Philippe Cardinal et Hoda Makram-Ebeid
Sixtine de Thé
www.lesclesdumoyenorient.com, French, 2012
Art in Iraq Today
www.meemartgallery.com, English, 2011
Exhibition
A Century in Flux
www.barjeelartfoundation.org, English, 2018
A long-term exhibition, A Century in Flux: Highlights from the Barjeel Art Foundation
A la plume, au pinceau, au crayon : dessins du monde arabe
www.imarab.com, French, 2019
Le musée de l’IMA présente une exposition inédite sur le dessin dans le monde arabe
MODERN ART FROM THE MIDDLE EAST
www.barjeelartfoundation.org, English, 2017
NIGHT WAS PAPER AND WE WERE INK
www.barjeelartfoundation.org, English, 2017
Works on Paper from the Barjeel Collection
Frieze Masters: Dia al Azzawi, Selected works, 1964-73
www.ruyafoundation.org, English, 2014
ARTFAIR
Sharjah’s Barjeel Art Foundation shows at Emirates Palace
Anna Seaman
www.thwnationalnews.com, English, 2014
SKY OVER THE EAST
www.barjeelartfoundation.org, English, 2014
Emirates Palace
تجريد... أعمال مختارة لفنانين عرب في قاعة «كاب» - الراي
Arabic, 2013
MODERN IRAQI ART: A COLLECTION
www.meemartgallery.com, English, 2013
RE: ORIENT
www.universes.art, English, 2013
Investigating modernism in the Arab world 1950s-70s
Le Corps découvert
www.imarab.com, French, 2012
rnL’IMA présente, une grande exposition d’art moderne et contemporain sur le thème de la représentation du corps et du nu dans les arts visuels arabes
a nudité au coeur de l'Institut du monde arabe
Annick Colonna-Césari
www.lexpress.fr, French, 2012
L'Institut du monde arabe présente des oeuvres d'artistes originaires du mondernarabe sur le thème de la nudité. Une initiative qui bouscule les tabous.
ART IN IRAQ TODAY: CONCLUSION
www.meemartgallery.com, English, 2011
Forgotten female artists of Modern Arab art to get their due in Sharjah show
Aimee Dawson
www.theartnewspaper.com, English, 2019
Collector Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi is organising an exhibition with an equal number of male and female masters to redress gender bias
British Museum curator publishes new book on modern and contemporary Arab art
Melissa Gronlund
www.thenationalnews.com, English, 2020
We speak to curator Venetia Porter whose collection of works from the Arab region is now a book and an exhibition
On the Matter of Destruction: Theater of Operations, The Gulf Wars 1991– 2011 // MoMA PS1
Elliot J. Reichert
www.theseenjournal.org, English, 2020
Abstraction and Calligraphy – Towards a Universal Language: Louvre Abu Dhabi’s rst 2021 exhibition features abstract masterpieces in dialogue, exploring a universal language of text and image
www.mediaoffice.abudhabi.com, English, 2021
A guide to the start of the UAE's art season: from Art Dubai to Louvre Abu Dhabi
Alexandra Chaves
www.thenationalnews.com, English, 2021
We highlight the latest exhibitions on view in the art scene
Camille Pissarro Saga Continues – Shai Baitel First Artistic Director Of MAM Shanghai – Louvre Abu Dhabi Explores Abstraction and Calligraphy
www.artlyst.com, English, 2021
From holy script to Huroufiyah — the sweep of Islamic calligraphy through the centuries
www.christies.com, English, 2021
Beginning with the angular scripts of a thousand years ago and evolving into abstraction in the 20th century, the Arabic written word has been used to create some of the most beautiful and sophisticated artworks in the world
Iraq Modernism leads Middle East's auction sales this season
Melissa Gronlund
www.thenationalnews.com, English, 2021
Christie's and Bonhams offer works by Iraqi artists this autumn
Masterpieces of Iraqi Modernism soar at Bonhams
www.artdaily.com, English, 2021
Pared down and profit sharing: here are the sales from Art Dubai, this year’s first physical fair
Dorian Batycka
www.theartnewspaper.com, English, 2021
Meanwhile, a crypto-art cruise during the fair indicates which way the wind may be blowing for future editions
The Dubai Collection: art from Sheikh Mohammed's collection to go on view at Etihad Museum
www.thenationalnews.com, English, 2021
The exhibition When Images Speak: Highlights from the Dubai Collection will open on November 6
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