Cultural Narratives, commissioned by Rima Nasser, features works from established and emerging artists in the Middle
East, North Africa, and the Gulf. The exhibition highlights regional artistic achievements and fosters appreciation and
understanding of its cultures. Showcased in traveling exhibitions, it brings the region’s vibrant art scene to global audiences.

Ahmed Al Bahrani

Iraq

Born in Babel in 1965, Ahmed Al Bahrani is a contemporary Iraqi artist and sculptor. After graduating from the Fine Arts Institute in Baghdad in 1988, he taught at the Academy of Fine Arts from 1992-94. Relocating to Qatar in 1998, he co-founded Mimar Gallery with architect Hazem Abu Naba’a and has exhibited regularly throughout the Middle East and internationally. In recent years, he earned a significant following in the Gulf art scene, where he has been featured in some of the region’s most prominent commercial art spaces, such as Art Sawa Gallery in Dubai and Albareh Art Gallery in Bahrain.  He has been commissioned for a number of public works in Iraq, Qatar and across the Middle East.  Constantly evolving his artistic approach, he works across different mediums, including painting, printmaking and reliefs. He lives and works in Qatar.

Hiba Kalache

Lebanon

Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Hiba Kalache is an interdisciplinary artist whose intricate drawings and sculptural works seek to explore collective and personal memory, and the effects of conflict and trauma on society.

Omar Zeidan

Lebanon

Omar Zeidan is a mixed media Lebanese artist who works predominantly in painting and digital media.  Zeidan’s unique style borrows techniques from digital art as well as music and sound composition, owing to his experience as a techno composer.

cultural narratives samia osseiran jumblatt artwork

Samia Osseiran Jumblatt

Lebanon

Biography Samia Osseiran Jumblatt, born in Saida, South Lebanon, in 1944, studied Fine Arts at Beirut College for Women, graduating in 1965, and earned her MFA from the Pius XII Institute in…

cultural narrartives amin montazeri artwork

Amin Montazeri

Iran

Biography Amin Montazeri, born in 1992 in Tehran, Iran, earned his BFA in Painting in 2014 and his MA in Painting in 2016 from Tehran’s University of Art. Montazeri creates detailed illustrative…

Nedim Kufi

Iraq

Nadim Kufi was born in Bagdad in 1962. Since 1994 he has been residing and working permanently in the Netherlands as a multidisciplinary visual artist.

cultural narratives sami mohammad artwork

Sami Mohammad

Kuwait

Sami Mohammad is a Kuwaiti artist and sculptor considered one of the pioneers of cultural movements in Kuwait and throughout the region.

cultural narratives farsam sangini artwork

Farsam Sangini

Iran

Biography Farsam Sangini, born in Tehran in 1988, is a contemporary figurative painter and art teacher. Self-taught in graphic design, painting, and animation, he has been teaching drawing, painting, composition, and anatomy…

Hossam Dirar

Egypt

One of Egypt’s foremost contemporary artists, Hossam Dirar works across painting, video, sound, and installation art.  Born in Cairo in 1978, Dirar graduated from the faculty of Applied Arts, at Helwan University, and later went on to participate in art, photography, and graphic workshops.

F160

Kuwait

Born in Kuwait, F160 is an artist that stands out for his current, “street” and comedic approach. He studied Advertising and Communication at the University of Oregon, USA. His graphic style thrives on its lightheartedness yet is not shy of dark material.

Tahar Ben Jelloun

Morocco

Tahar Ben Jelloun is a Moroccan author, poet and painter born in 1944 in Fez. Although he started drawing before writing, he only began painting in the past ten years. After attending a bilingual French-Moroccan primary school, he studied at the French lycée in Tangier until he was 18.

cultural narratives mohamad el rawas artwork

Mohammad El Rawas

Lebanon

Mohammad El Rawas is one of Lebanon’s most prominent contemporary artists.  He was born in 1951 in Beirut, Lebanon, where he studied at the Institute of Fine Arts at the Lebanese University, and later moved to London to study printmaking at the Slade School of Fine Art. 

Nihad Al Turk

Syria

Born in Aleppo in 1972, self-taught artist Nihad Al Turk’s work focuses on the existential crisis of the individual caught up in power struggles between good and evil. Based in Beirut, Al Turk situates his work against a backdrop of literature and philosophy, painting a recurrent cast of mythical demons, outcasts, and antiheroes.

Fathallah Zamroud

Lebanon

A Syrian-Lebanese painter, born in Lebanon in 1968, Fathallah Zamroud studied interior architecture at the Lebanese American University, going on to spend seven years training with painter Louna Maalouf.

cultural narratives asmaa genidi artwork

Asmaa Genidi

Egypt

Biography Asmaa Genidi was born in 1983 in Giza. She is a teacher at Helwan University, Art Education College, and holds a PhD in Art Education Philosophy, earned in 2016. She has…

Sepideh Zamani

Iran

Born in Tehran, Iran in 1986, Sepideh Zamani completed her BFA in
Sculpture at the Art University of Tehran. She began her artistic
venture as a graphic designer, working in advertising companies.

Assadour

Lebanon

Artwork

cultural narratives amir soghrati artwork

Amir Kasra Golrang

Iran

Biography Amir Soghrati, born in 1979 in Rasht, Iran, graduated in Publication and Press Graphic Arts from the Center for Media Studies and Research in Tehran in 2002. He has been a…

cultural narratives sara abbasian artwork

Sara Abbasian

Iran

Biography Sara Abbasian, born in 1982 in Tehran, Iran, earned her BFA in Painting in 2014. Her dark, apocalyptic, black-and-white drawings explore the often inhumane behaviours of contemporary society. Her work reflects…

Raouf Rifai

Lebanon

Born in Lebanon in 1954 Raouf Rifai lives and works in Beirut. He has a Ph.D. in Urban Planning from the Sorbonne in Paris and teaches art at the Lebanese University.

cultural narratives navid azimi sajadi artwork

Navid Azimi Sajadi

Iran

Biography Navid Azimi Sajadi, born in 1982 in Tehran, Iran, graduated in Painting from Azad University, Tehran, before moving to Rome to study at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma. He…

cultural narratives hayam abdelbaky artwork

Hayam AbdelBaky

Egypt

Biography Hayam Abdel Baky is an Egyptian artist currently residing in Cairo. Born in 1972 in Kafr El-Sheikh, she is one of Egypt’s foremost contemporary artists. She earned her M.A. in Visual…

cultural narratives ghasemi brothers artwork

Ghasemi Bothers

Iran

Biography The Ghasemi Brothers – Morteza, Sina, and Mojtaba Ghasemi Sheelsar – have been collaborating since 2015. While they each pursue their own painting projects individually, they also come together to work…

Tayseer Barakat

Palestine

Tayseer Barakat is one of Palestine’s preeminent artists whose practice over the past years has drawn inspiration from the ancient past, oral traditions, and cultural narratives that are intimately tied to life in Palestine.

Ghassan Nana

Syria

Born in Homs in 1953, Ghassan Nana studied at the Fine Arts Center in Homs and the University of Damascus. His luminous, delicate oil paintings are executed in a classical impressionist style, capturing soothing pastoral scenes that possess a haunting and ethereal quality.

Mouteea Murad

Syria

Born in Homs in 1977, Mouteea Murad studied Fine Arts at the University of Damascus. His works are inspired by traditional Islamic art in which spirituality and formalism are unified in geometric form.

Alfred Tarazi

Lebanon

Born in 1980, Lebanese artist Alfred Tarazi received a degree in Graphic Design from the American University of Beirut. One of his great achievements is the “Krinzinger Projekte” residency, which took place in Vienna.

Charles Khoury

Lebanon

Born in Lebanon in 1966, Charles Khoury creates works characterised by highly animated abstracted bodies and brightly coloured canvases.

cultural narratives mahshid rahim tabrizi artwork

Mahshid Rahim Tabrizi

Iran

Biography Mahshid RahimTabrizi was born in Tehran in 1969. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Painting and is a member of the Association of Iranian Painters. Mahshid has exhibited her work in…

cultural narratives ali neema artwork

Ali Neema

Iraq

Artwork

Nizar Othman

Syria

Nizar Othman is a visual artist born in Lebanon and of Syrian descent. Outhman began his professional career working as a journalist and caricaturist, for which he was awarded the Bronze medal at the Guangxi international comics in 2007 (University city Guangxi); the “Excellence Award at e Competition of Guangxi international comics in 2007 (University city Guangxi) China; a Special Honorary Prize – Competition of the International Journal of Rhino (Bosnia and Herzegovina) in 2008. 

Mansour El Habre

Lebanon

Mansour El Habre was born in Lebanon in 1970 and studied fine arts at the Lebanese University and the University of Balamand.

Yasmina Nysten

Lebanon

Oregon-based artist Yasmina Nysten was born in Helsinki in 1988 and has lived in Finland, France, Lebanon, New York and Philadelphia. She studied Fine Arts at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Art (ALBA) and Digital Animation at New York’s Pratt Institute.

Al Anood Al Obaidly

United Arab Emirates

Al Anood Al Obeidli is an Emirati visual artist from Abu Dhabi, UAE, who works primarily in collage producing works that are almost sculptural in form.  Born in 1990, this young artist received her degree in Visual Arts from the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, and in 2014 participated in the Sheikha Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation Emerging Artist Fellowship Programme.

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