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.
cultural narratives sahar al amir artwork

Sahar Al Amir

Biography Sahar Al Amir, born in Alexandria in 1970, is an Egyptian artist who has studied and received training in both Egypt and Italy across various mediums. She produces multilayered abstract work,…

Aly Said

Aly Said was born on the north side of the river Nile near the historical city of Rosetta in Egypt. He began his study at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Alexandria in 1997, graduating from the painting department in 2002 and earning his master’s degree in 2012.

cultural narratives nehad saeed artwork

Nehad Saeed

Biography Nehad Saeed is a Cairo-based artist with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design and a master’s degree in fine arts from Helwan University, Cairo. She has participated in several biennials, including…

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…

Hanaa Malallah

Born in Theeqar, Iraq in 1958, London-based Hanaa Malallah is a visual artist and educator. She received a bachelor’s degree in Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad, an MA in Painting, a Ph.D.

cultural narratives sadra beniasadi artwork

Sadra Baniasadi

Biography Sadra Baniasadi, born in 1991 in Tehran, Iran, is a painter. He studied painting at Tehran Art University from 2010 to 2015 and began exhibiting his work in galleries during his…

cultural narratives riham elsadany artwork

Riham Elsadany

Riham Elsadany was born in 1978 in Cairo. She holds a BFA in Arts, an MFA and PhD from the Faculty of Art Education at Helwan University. She is also the founder and director of MUST Gallery at Misr University for Science & Technology Cairo, in 2007.

Ahmad Kleige

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

Salwa Zeidan

Born in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Salwa Zeidan left Lebanon in the 1980s and settled in the United Arab Emirates, where she worked as a painter and a curator.   She has contributed significantly to the regional art scene by opening the first contemporary art gallery in Abu Dhabi, in 1994, focusing on showing Emirate, Middle Eastern and international artists.

cultural narratives sina choopani artwrok

Sina Choopani

Biography Born in Sari, Iran in 1992, Sina Choopani considers himself an experimental artist. He studied Sculpture at the University of Tehran. In his work, he mainly experiments with destruction and combines…

cultural narratives sara abbasian artwork

Sara Abbasian

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…

F160

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.

Carla Salem

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

Klay Kassem

Born in Alexandria in 1977, Klay Mohamed Abdel Aziz Kassem graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Alexandria in 2000 and holds an MA (2008) and a Ph.D. (2013) in Art Studies.

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.

Charles Khoury

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

Marwan Chamaa

Born in Lebanon in 1964, Marwan Chamaa is a painter, designer, and storyteller who studied Art at the American University of Beirut, the Lebanese American University, and the Corcoran School of Art in Washington D.C.

cultural narratives ava rasti artwork

Ava Rasti

Artwork

cultural narratives azadeh ghotbi artwork

Azadeh Ghotbi

Biography Azadeh Ghotbi was born in Iran and is currently based in London. She is a painter and photographer who studied International Relations at Brown University in the United States. Her work…

Aula Al Ayoubi

Aula Al Ayoubi was born in Damascus in 1973 and studied mathematics and educational sciences at the University of Damascus.

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.

Joseph Harb

Joseph Harb was born in Beirut in 1964 and studied at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA) and the Lebanese University. His paintings of seemingly disparate objects that borrow techniques from collage point to Harb’s desire to blur the formal artistic boundaries in his abstract mixed media works.

Raed Issa

Raed Issa was born in Al Bureij refugee camp in Gaza in 1975.   Portraying scenes of tragedy and bereavement that come with living under siege, Essa’s work is highly emotive.  His portraits of young children, martyrs, and wounded bodies capture the vulnerability and tragedy of living in precarity.

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…

Nja Mahdaoui

Born in Tunisia in 1937, Nja Mahdaoui graduated from the Academia Santa Andrea in Rome and the École du Louvre in Paris in 1967. As a visual artist he has mainly focused on calligraphy. Initially inspired by abstract painting, his work is remarkably innovative in the artistic field of the “written word”.

cultural narratives sami mohammad artwork

Sami Mohammad

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

cultural narratives zaid shawwa artwork

Zaid Shawwa

Biography Zaid Shawwa, from Jordan, studied Engineering at the University of Jordan and earned an MBA from the American University in Dubai. He began with classic charcoal portraits and landscapes before transitioning…

Aly Sirry

Born in Egypt, Aly Sirry is a self-taught artist who works in various mediums including pottery, paper-making, metal, wood, ink and acrylic. He is a full-time diplomat with a real passion for the creative fields.

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…

Elie Bourgely

Elie Bourgely was born in 1960 and studied Fine Art and Art History in Beirut and Paris receiving his doctoral studies in Art History followed by a post-graduate diploma (DEA) in Art History (Paris IV University – Sorbonne, Paris – France).

Mohammed Al Hawajri

Mohammed Al Hawajri was born in 1976 in the Bureij refugee camp in Gaza. Between 1999 and 2001, Al Hawarji participated in the Darat Al Funun Summer Academy in Amman, Jordan led by Marwan Qassab Bashi, and in 2008 he received a grant to study at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris.

cultural narratives farsam sangini artwork

Farsam Sangini

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…

Zouhair Dabbagh

Zuheir Dabbagh was born in Aleppo in 1953 and studied at Damascus University …graduation project was about the massacre of Tal al-Zaatar (1976).

Thameur Mejri

Born in 1982 in Tunis, multi-disciplinary artist Thameur Mejri trained as a painter at the Institute of Fine Arts in Tunis and now lives and works in Nabeul, Tunisia. He currently teaches at the Higher Institute of the Arts & Crafts in Kairouan while completing a Ph.D. in Sciences and Technology of Arts and continuing to exhibit in Tunisia and internationally.

Ghylan Safadi

Gylan Safadi was born in Sweida, Syria in 1977 and studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Damascus.