Interview 

“A half-finished Iraqi flag”: Baghdad-based photographer Ayman al-Amiri

Ayman al-Amiri (b. 1995, Baghdad) is well known among young photographers and filmmakers in Baghdad. He was 8 years old when the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, and his photographs reflect daily life after the conflict.  Ayman’s work has been presented at international film festivals in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and New York and appears in RUYA’s Welcome to Iraq…
Essay 

The Child Tempered by War: Julian Stallabrass on the work of photographer Ayman al-Amiri

Art historian and curator Julian Stallabrass writes about Baghdad-based photographer Ayman al-Amiri’s series Homage to Tarkowsky (2013). The 19 year old photographer is currently working on a documentary series produced by RUYA. In the opening to Tarkovsky’s film, Ivan’s Childhood, which is set during the German invasion of the Soviet Union, a very beautiful boy runs…
Event 

RUYA holds symposium in Baghdad on contemporary art.

RUYA hosted a day long symposium on contemporary art in Baghdad last week, open to artists and intellectuals from across the country. Curator Philippe Van Cauteren, who RUYA brought to Baghdad to meet artists and visit the city’s cultural institutions, gave a presentation on the current international state of contemporary art. ‘We took advantage of…