Lecture: A history of Iraqi modern art and Iraqi artists in the Diaspora, on the occasion of the exhibition ‘Distant Dreams; the other face of Iraq’, Kunstliefde (Utrecht)
http://onglobalandlocalart.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/
Handout of my lecture on Iraqi modern art and Iraqi artists in the Diaspora, Kunstliefde, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 24 February 2012, on the occasion of the exhibition Distant Dreams; five Iraqi artists in the Netherlands (Baldin Ahmad, Qassim Alsaedy, Salam Djaaz, Awni Sami and Araz Talib), with the addition of some of the visual material (click on the pictures to enlarge)
Introduction on the history and geography of Iraq
Origins and development of the Iraqi modern art (from 1950)
Jewad Selim Faeq Hassan Shakir Hassan al-Said
Mahmud Sabri Dhia Azzawi Rafa al-Nasiri
Mohammed Mohreddin Hanaa Mal-Allah
Art and mass-propaganda under the rule of the Ba’th Party
Al-Nasb al-Shaheed (‘The Martyr’s Monument’, by Ismael Fattah al-Turk)
Bab al-Nasr ( ‘Victory Arch’, designed by Saddam Husayn and executed by Khalid al-Rahal and Mohammed Ghani Hikmet)
Statues and portraits of Saddam Husayn and Michel Aflaq (founder of the Ba’thparty)
Iraqi artists in the Diaspora
The Netherlands:
Baldin Ahmad Aras Kareem Hoshyar Rasheed
Araz Talib Awni Sami Salam Djaaz
Qassim Alsaedy Ziad Haider Nedim Kufi
Some Iraqi artists in other countries:
Rebwar Saeed (England) Anahit Sarkes (England)
Jananne al-Ani (England) Ahmed al-Sudani (United States)
Walid Siti (England) Halim Al Kareem (Netherlands/United States)
Adel Abidin (Finland) Azad Nanakeli (Italy)
Ali Assaf (Italy) Wafaa Bilal (United States)
On the screen a work of Mahmud Sabri, one of the most experimental Iraqi artists in history
A work of Jewad Selim, more or less the ‘founder of the Iraqi modern art’
On the screen a work of Shakir Hassan al-Said, whose style influenced artists all over the Arab and even the islamic world
Left (in front) Qassim Alsaedy. Me behind the laptop. Behind me (left side) my sister Leonie Schreve and her partner Anand Kanhai. Behind them the Iraqi artist Ali Talib. Second right of me Brigitte Reuter, who created many works together with Qassim Alsaedy. On the walls (right) the work of Awni Sami
Left behind me Martin van der Randen, curator of this exhibition. Left on the wall the work of Baldin Ahmad
Tentoonstelling ‘Distant Dreams; the other face of Iraq’ (Kunstliefde, Utrecht)
أحلام بعيدة، هي الوجه الآخر للعراق
معرض لخمسة فنانين عراقيين في هولندا
On Sunday February 19th in Utrecht (in the artists Society Kunstliefde) the exhibition ‘Distant Dreams, the other face of Iraq’ will be opened, an exhibition of five Iraqi artists who are living and working in the Netherlands, curated by Martin van der Randen. The participating artists are Salam Djaaz, Qassim Alsaedy, Baldin Ahmad, Awni Sami and Araz Talib , all on this blog ever mentioned or extensively discussed. On Friday, February 24 at 20:00 I will give a lecture at the exhibition on the history of modern art of Iraq and the Iraqi art in the Diaspora, in the Netherlands and elsewhere.
Here is the brochure of Distant Dreams; The other face of Iraq (both in English and Dutch)
In this blog entry, the documentation of the exhibition and the lecture will appear very soon. Below the official announcement. See also http://www.iraqiart.com/inp/view.asp?ID=1305 (Arabic):
Op zondag 19 februari wordt in de Utrechtse kunstenaarsvereniging Kunstliefde de tentoonstelling Distant Dreams; the other face of Iraq geopend, van vijf uit Irak afkomstige kunstenaars in Nederland, samengesteld door Martin van der Randen. De deelnemende kunstenaars zijn Salam Djaaz, Qassim Alsaedy, Baldin Ahmad, Awni Sami en Araz Talib, allen weleens op dit blog genoemd of uitvoerig besproken. Op vrijdag 24 februari zal ik om 20.00 bij de tentoonstelling een lezing geven over de geschiedenis van de moderne kunst van Irak en de Iraakse kunst in de Diaspora, in Nederland en elders.
Zie hier de Brochure van Distant Dreams; The other face of Iraq
In dit blogitem zal de documentatie van de tentoonstelling en de lezing verschijnen. Hieronder de officiële aankondiging.
Lezing op 24 februari, om 20.00 in Kunstliefde, Nobelstraat 12A, Utrecht (www.kunstliefde.nl)
(أمستردام، هولندا)
Opening (Sunday February 19th, 2012)
Qassim Alsaedy (l), Salam Djaaz (r)
Awni Sami (l), Baldin Ahmad (r)
Araz Talib
The writers/journalists Ishin Mohiddin (l), Karim Al-Najar (r)
Mrs Mayada al-Gharqoly of the Iraqi Embassy in the Netherlands. Behind her Martin van der Randen, curator of this exhibition
Mayada al-Gharqoly
Mounir Goran (ud), with the Dutch Kurdish Iraqi poet Baban Kirkuki
The Dutch Iraqi Kurdish writer Ibrahim Selman (l) with Qassim Alsaedy
From the left to the right: Baban Kirkuki, Mounir Goran, Qassim Alsaedy, Baldin Ahmad, Araz Talib, Salam Djaaz, Awni Sami
Finissage (Sunday March 18th, 2012)
Qassim Alsaedy with HE Dr. Saad Ibrahim al-Ali, Embassador of Iraq in the Netherlands
The embassador, with some other staff of the Embassy and some of the artists
Martin van der Randen with Baldin Ahmad
Baldin Ahmad and Salam Djaaz
Baldin Ahmad and Qassim Alsaedy
Baban Kirkuki, Salam Djaaz and Munir Goran
photos by Floris Schreve
Mijn hersenspinsels en gedachtekronkels 
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