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.

Nabil Anani

Nabil Anani is one of Palestine’s most influential artists working today. Born in Latroun in 1943, Anani studied Fine Art at Alexandria University, Egypt and returned to his native Palestine, where he began a successful career as an artist and educator.

Azza Al Qubaisi

Born in Abu Dhabi, Azza Al Qubaisi studied in London where she received an MA in Cultural and Creative Industries HCT-CERT Abu Dhabi and a BA in Silversmithing, Jewellery Design, and Allied Crafts from London Guildhall.  Often referred to as the Emirates’ First Jewellery Artist, Al Qubaisi produces wearable jewelry pieces and large-scale sculptural works that are influenced by the desert landscape of the United Arab Emirates and its rich ancestral past.

cultural narratives leily derakhshani artwork

Leily Derakhshani

Biography Leily Derakhshani, born in Iran in 1961, graduated from the School of Dramatic Arts with a focus on Sculpting and then majored in Sculpting at the College of Fine Arts in…

Houman Al Sayed

Houman Al Sayed is best known for his large-scale paintings that depict alienated, shock-ridden subjects, whose disproportionately sized, swollen faces attest to their confusion and isolation.

Amin Akbari

B. 1988, Bojnurd, Iran

Rached Bohsali

Rached Bohsali is a trained architect and painter whose work has been exhibited widely in his native Beirut, the Arab world, Europe and the United States.

Imed Jemaiel

Born in Bizerte, Tunisia in 1965, Imed Jemaiel shifted his attention to the arts after two years of medical school. In 1990, he earned a degree in Fine Arts, specialising in printmaking. In 1992, he started teaching at the Higher Institute of Fine Arts in Tunisia.

Dia Al-Azzawi

Born in Baghdad in 1939, Dia Azzawi started his artistic career in 1964, after graduating from the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad. In 1969, Azzawi formed the New Vision group (al-Ru’yya al-Jadidah), uniting fellow artists prioritising the ideological and cultural aspects of art above any aesthetic premise.

Salwa Eid

Artwork

Mirmohammad Fattahi

Born in Karaj, Iran in 1987, Mirmohammad Fattahi obtained a
diploma in painting from the School of Fine Arts in Iran, followed by
a BA in painting from Soore Art University of Tehran.

Hossam Dirar

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.

Sliman Mansour

Suleiman Mansour is one of Palestine’s leading contemporary artists. He is best known for his 1974 painting Camel of Hardship, which depicts the concept of summud, or steadfastness.

cultural narratives dariush zandi artwork

Dariush Zandi

Biography Dariush Zandi’s love for photography began as a child in Tehran, where he spent summers helping at a local studio and received his first camera at eight. His passion for photography…

Amer Shomali

Born in Kuwait in 1981, Amer Shomali holds a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Birzeit University in Palestine and an MA in
Animation from Bournemouth University in the UK.

cultural narrartives amin montazeri artwork

Amin Montazeri

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…

cultural narratives tayseer hamed artwork

Tayseer Hamed

Biography Tayseer Hamed, born in Cairo in 1955, graduated from the Faculty of Applied Arts in 1978. He is a seasoned member of Egypt’s contemporary art vanguard. Throughout numerous solo exhibitions in…

cultural narratives raana dehghan artwork

Raana Dehghan

Biography Raana Dehghan, born in 1986 in Tehran, Iran, is a sculptor and painter living and working in Tehran. She earned her BA in Painting from Azad University of Tehran in 2013.…

Raouf Rifai

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.

Shadi Abousada

Shadi Abousada is a painter, installation and video artist whose work explores the complex socio-political reality and absurdity of his cultural milieu.

Adnene Hadj Sassi

Born in Sfax in 1961, artist Adnene Hadi Sassi is a painter and holds a degree in Sciences and Techniques of the Arts. Curiosity and doubt are at the origin of his artistic practice and his goal is to diversify the manner in which he approaches the same subject.

Jamil Molaeb

Jamil Molaeb was born in Baysour, a town in the Chouf region of Lebanon where he continues to live and work.  In addition to painting, Molaeb is a sculptor and makes mosaics – a practice reflected in his canvas works.

Ahmad Kleige

Ahmad Kleige was born in Aleppo, Syria in 1964. He studied at the Fathi Mohamed Fine Arts Center in Aleppo.

Ayman Essa

Ayman Essa lives and works in Gaza. He obtained his BA in Fine Arts, specializing in Photography, from Al-Najah University in Nablus in 1999 and holds a Master’s from Helwan University in Egypt. His distinct color palette comprised of mainly blue, red and pinkish hues, defines his bold large-scale figurative paintings series.  Focusing solely on the female form, Essa’s works are recognizable through their exaggerated, curvaceous forms and at times coquettish gestures. He has participated in several group exhibitions including The Path at Dar Al-Karameh Hall in 1999 and the Red Crescent Society in Gaza in 2001. His work has also been exhibited internationally, including the Biennial for Young Artists in Rome in 1999 and the We Will Become exhibition (2004-5) which involved ten artists traveling from Gaza to several cities in France.

Monther Jawabreh

Monther Jawarbeh was born and raised in Al Arroub refugee camp, in Bethlehem. His expressive portraits of Palestinian men whose nationality is marked by the keffiyeh they wear reflect Jawarbeh’s interest in expressing a collective Palestinian identity.

Nawal Alsadon

Born in 1953 in Baghdad, Nawal Alsadon graduated in 1980 in Graphic Design from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bucharest, Romania. She began participating in group exhibitions in 1975, beginning with The Association of Iraqi Artists gallery in Baghdad, and since then has had her art shown in numerous exhibitions across the world, including in Romania, Yemen, Syria, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Scotland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Turkey.

cultural narratives mutaz elemam artwork

Mutaz Elemam

Biography Mutaz Elemam is a Sudanese painter born in Kasala in the eastern province. He lives between Egypt and Sudan, fully devoted to his painting practice. He graduated from the Department of…

Kais Salman

Kais Salman was born in Tartous, Syria in 1976 and lives and works in
Beirut. He studied Fine Art at Damascus University. His paintings use satire to subvert the normalisation of greed, consumerism, and vanities that have come to define our globalised present.

Mouteea Murad

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.

cultural narratives fatameh bahman artwork

Fatameh Bahman

Biography Fatemeh Bahman, born in Tehran, Iran, in 1981, is an accomplished painter and art writer. She has a background in mathematics and literature graphics from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic…

Sinan Hussein

Born in 1977 in Iraq, Sinan Hussein graduated from the University of Fine Arts in Baghdad. He is a member of the Iraqi Fine Arts Artist Society and of the Union of Iraqi Artists. Sinan Hussein’s whimsical characters seem weightless in an environment reminiscent of Limbo.

Omar Bey

Born in 1973, Tunisian artist Omar Bey graduated from L’Institut Supérieur des Beaux-arts in 1998 and completed a residency at Cité Internationale des Arts in 2012.

Nizar Othman

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. 

Omar Zeidan

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 omar al shahabi artwork

Omar Al Shahabi

Biography Omar Al Shahabi was born in Iraq in 1983. He earned a BFA from the University of Baghdad in 2007 and now lives and works in Qatar. He has held solo…

Ahoo Maher

B. 1990, Tehran, living in Vienna since 2008.

Assadour

Artwork

Barsoum Barsouma

Born in Hasaka in 1947, Barsoum Barsouma studied painting at the University of Damascus before working as a patterning expert at the Syrian Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums.

Carla Salem

Born in Lebanon in 1978, Carla Salem is a papermaker and printmaker whose work explores the relationship between language and form.

cultural narratives eman hussein artwork

Eman Hussein

Biography Eman Hussein was born in 1986 in Cairo, Egypt. She is an Egyptian architect and artist who leads a creative studio that blurs the boundaries between art, architecture, and design. Eman…

Saoud Al Dhaheri

Born in Al-Ain city, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 1987, Saoud Al Dhaheri [RF1] joined the Higher Colleges of Technology Photography Club, and later the Emirates Photography Society, to pursue his artistic passion.