Jafar Mohamed in Venice: First week

As the Welcome to Iraq exhibition at the 55th Venice Biennale draws to an end, Ruya supported the Iraqi artist Jafar Mohamed during a month long residency at the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice. Jafar was given his own studio space, and weekly mentoring from the Scuola’s curators and tutors.
 

Welcome To Iraq Catalogue

The Welcome to Iraq catalogue with texts by curator Jonathan Watkins and RUYA chairman Tamara Chalabi is available to purchase online through the Ikon Gallery. It is illustrated with images of selected work and recent photographs of everyday life in Baghdad, Babylon, Basra, Erbil and Sulaimaniya.
Interview 

From Berlin to Baghdad: Furat al Jamil

Furat al Jamil (b. 1965, Mainz, Germany; lives and works in Baghdad, Iraq) is a filmmaker, selected to show one of her rare sculptures at the Pavilion of Iraq. A suspended honeycomb frame drips its contents into a broken antique pot, in order to convey sweet melancholy, a sadness that she feels about her homeland…
Interview 

A time for change: Bassim al Shaker

One of the youngest artists in the Pavilion of Iraq at the 55th Venice Biennale, Bassim Al-Shaker (b. 1986, Baghdad, Iraq) is stylistically one of its most traditional, making oil paintings that would very much impress his teachers at the local academy. Eschewing any sign of avant-gardism he paints scenes of the southern marshlands, suggesting a lifestyle…