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 rozita sharafjahan artwork

Rozita Sharafjahan

Biography Rozita Sharafjahan, born in 1962 in Tehran, Iran, began her art education at the age of 15. She continued her studies and graduated with an MA degree from Tehran University in…

Bahram Hajou

Bahram Hajo was born in Syria in 1952. He studied at the Fine Arts
Academy in Dusseldorf Germany and in 1984 graduated from the
Kunstakademie Münster.

cultural narratives pouya parsamagham artwork

Pouya Parsamagham

Biography Pouya Parsamagham, born in 1981 in Tehran, Iran, graduated from the University of Applied Science and Technology with a degree in filmmaking and graphic design. He began his career as a…

Fathel Neema

Born in Kerbela in 1964, Fathel Neema is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts, Bagdad and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, The Hague Royal, where he also completed a post-graduate course in graphic techniques from 2008 to 2009. He is a member of ArtiBrak, Voorburg and Pulchri Studio, The Hague. His solo exhibitions began in 1997 at Gallery Celeste, Wenen, Austria, followed by many others in Brunssum (1998), Berlin’s Pergamon Museum, Museum fur Islamische Kunst (2003), the Museum Swaensteijn, Voorburg (2003),  Gallery Kolff Zoeterwoude, the Netherlands (2013), Stand Up Gallery with Jaco Putker, The Hague, the Netherlands (2013), Al Urgewan Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon (2014), The Graphic Art Studio, Beirut, Lebanon (2015) and Almarkhiya Gallery with Qahtan lamina in Doha, Qatar (2015). Since 1995 he has participated in numerous international group exhibitions, including in Jordan, the Netherlands, Germany, India, Iraq and China.

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.

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.

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.

Elias Izoli

Born in Damascus, Syria in 1976, Elias Izoli is a self-taught painter whose creative talents were revealed at a young age.

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.

Leila Kubba Kawash

Leila Kubba was born of a Swiss American mother and Iraqi father. She was educated in Baghdad and went on to graduate with a National Diploma of Art and Design from the Manchester School of Art and Architecture in the UK and also studied for a period of five years at the Corcoran College of Art in Washington DC, as well as taking courses in printmaking and painting at Saint Martins College, London.

Tayseer Barakat

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.

cultural narratives semaan khawam artwork

Semaan Khawam

Born in 1974, Semaan Khawam is a Lebanese painter, designer, graffiti artist, actor, writer, and poet who lives and works in Beirut, Lebanon.

Bassem Dahdouh

Born in Damascus in 1964, Bassem Dahdouh studied art at the University of Damascus and received his PhD from Egypt’s Helwan University.

cultural narratives rifky elrazzaz artwork

Rifky El Razzaz

Biography Rifky El Razzaz is an Egyptian artist born in 1958, currently based in Cairo. His work draws inspiration from Cairo’s landscape and ancient history, creating large paintings that reference Ancient Egyptian…

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.

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.

cultural narratives alaa sharabi artwork

Alaa Sharabi

Alaa Sharabi was born in Damascus in 1988 and studied printmaking at the University of Damascus where he was later appointed as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts. His bold paintings combine rich palettes with frenetic lines and complex compositions.

Anas Albraehe

Born in Syria in 1991, Anas Albraehe is a Beirut-based artist who
primarily works in painting and theatre. In 2014, he received a
bachelor’s degree in Painting and Drawing from the Fine Arts
University of Damascus, Syria.

Athier Mousawi

Born in 1982, Athier Mousawi lives and works between Paris, London, and Istanbul, and holds a graduate degree in Communication Design with Illustration from Central Saint Martins, UK. In recent years Athier Mousawi’s work has centred on posing unanswerable questions against undefined answers, forming a visual narrative between the two. Since 2007, the subject of much of his work has been Iraq and his diasporic relationship to his foreign homeland, as well as the concept of nostalgic referencing in how we idolise and remember our past, present, and future. Separate to his artistic practice, Athier has worked extensively as an educator in the UK and abroad. For three consecutive years, beginning in 2007, Athier worked as a British Museum Arab Artist in Residence, working in schools throughout the UK. In 2011, he was selected to serve as the Chasing Mirrors Artist in Residence at the National Portrait Gallery, leading workshops in community centres across London. Athier has also worked in a number of refugee camps as a workshop leader in Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan, and in 2014 was invited by the Palestinian Museum as a Visiting Artist to conduct workshops with children in the West Bank. In 2015, he was selected to work at the artist-run interdisciplinary space Beirut Art Residency. Athier has participated in many solo and group exhibitions including in Beirut, Dubai, Geneva, London, Jeddah and Tashkent.

cultural narratives hayam abdelbaky artwork

Hayam AbdelBaky

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…

Thaier Helal

Born in Syria in 1967, Thaier Helal has been a student of notable painters such as Mahmoud Hammad during his studies at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Damascus.

Boutros Al-Maari

Born in Damascus in 1968, Boutros Al-Maari studied printmaking in Syria and received a Doctorate in Social Anthropology from EHESS in Paris, France. Both cultural contexts are reflected in his distinctive paintings.

cultural narratives mohamed khedr artwork

Mohamed Khedr

Biography Mohamed Khedr is an Egyptian artist with a wide range of influences on his artistic practice. Since graduating with a B.A. in Set Design from the Faculty of Fine Arts at…

Sepideh Zamani

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.

cultural narratives atousa jannesari artwork

Atousa Jannesari

Biography Atousa Jannesari, born in Tehran, Iran, in 1981, holds a B.A. in Painting from Sooreh University, which she completed in 2007. She won the Karaj Annual Drawing Award in 2005. Atousa…

Mohannad Orabi

Dubai-based painter Mohannad Orabi was born in Damascus in 1977 and graduated from the Faculty of Fine Art in Damascus in 2000.

Naji Chalhoub

Naji Chalhoub is best known for his affective, scribbled line drawings of seemingly torturous subjects whose hollowed-out eyes and sinister smiles unsettle the viewer.

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.

Sadik Kwaish Alfraji

Born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1960, Sadik Kwaish Alfraji lives and works in Amersfoort, Netherlands. In 1987, he received a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad and a diploma in Graphic Design from CHK Constantin Huygens in the Netherlands.

cultural narratives sogol kashani artwork

Sogol Kashani

Biography Sogol Kashani, born in 1979 in Tehran, is an Iranian contemporary artist who grew up during the Iran-Iraq war. She began drawing and painting at a young age and studied graphics…

cultural narratives elnaz salehi artwork

Elnaz Salehi

Biography Elnaz Salehi, born in 1987 in Iran, holds a BA in Sculpture from Tehran Fine Art University. Since graduating, she has run a collective studio with other artists in the suburbs…

Salama Al Mazrouei

Born in the United Arab Emirates, Salama Al Mazrouie graduated from the School of Fine Arts, UAE University, and is a member of the Emirates Fine Art Society.

Khaled Ben Slimane

Born in Nabeul, Tunisia in 1951, Khaled Ben Slimane graduated from the Escola Massana of Barcelona in 1977 and then from the Technological Institute of Art in Tunisia in 1982. His multidisciplinary practice includes paintings on paper, canvas and wood. He is mostly known for his ceramic and bronze sculptures.