Artwork
Iran
Cultural Narratives, commissioned by Rima Nasser, features works from established and emerging artists in the Middle
Jordan
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…
Lebanon
Artwork
Iraq
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.
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.
Iran
Biography Atefeh Majidi Nezhad, born in Isfahan, Iran, in 1983, is an artist whose work reflects the rich creativity of her birthplace. She earned her BFA from Isfahan Art University and went…
Lebanon
Artwork
Palestine
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.
Syria
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.
Lebanon
Artwork
Egypt
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.
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…
Lebanon
Born in Lebanon in 1957, Hala Choucair is a painter who is best known for her intricate paintings that focus on the minute detail of the objects she draws.
Lebanon
Artwork
Iran
Artwork
Lebanon
Born in 1966, Lebanese photographer Gilbert Hage explores the contemporary strengths of his medium. He studied at the SaintEsprit University in Kaslik and has been teaching there since 1990.
Lebanon
Artwork
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…
Lebanon
Born in Beirut in 1965, Rim El Jundi studied religious art at the University of the Holy Spirit in Kaslik and fine art at the Lebanese American University, where she was awarded The Sheikh Zayed Graduation Award from the Lebanese American University in 1997.
Lebanon
Artwork
Tunisia
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”.
Iran
Biography Yasaman Nozari, born in 1991 in Tehran, is an Iranian artist currently living and working in Gent, Belgium. She holds a degree in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts at…
Lebanon
Zeina Badran was born in Tripoli and worked as a self-taught artist for several years before studying fine art at the Lebanese American University.
Iran
Born in Tehran, Iran in 1945, Fereydoun Ave is a central figure in the Iranian art scene as he is one of the most important and influential
contemporary artists of Iran.
Lebanon
spired and guided by both music and poetry, Zurayk’s drawings explore, in her words, “the fluctuating gradations of emotional experience,” which is reflected in intense painterly markings that capture both movement and flux – a technique that also characterizes her brushwork in both figurative and abstract artworks.
Lebanon
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.
Syria
Artwork
Egypt
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…
Jordan
Artwork
Syria
Born in Damascus, Syria in 1948, Nazir Ismail took part in over 60 exhibitions throughout his artistic career. His colourful oil paintings capture human figures and roosters in warm, earthy colours, while his watercolours on paper convey the realities of modern Syria.
Iran
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…
Lebanon
Artwork
Lebanon
Artwork
Iran
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…
Lebanon
Artwork
Lebanon
Nadim Karam is a multidisciplinary artist, whose work incorporates painting, drawing, and sculpture through a distinct artistic style that draws from Oriental and Japanese theories of space.
Lebanon
Born in Lebanon in 1978, Carla Salem is a papermaker and printmaker whose work explores the relationship between language and form.
Syria
Born in Hama in 1952, Edward Shahda studied at the Suhail Ahdab Center in Hama and the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Damascus, before undertaking a residency at the Anatoli Klankov Atelier in Russia
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…
Iran
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…
Syria
Born in Damascus, Syria in 1976, Elias Izoli is a self-taught painter whose creative talents were revealed at a young age.
Iran
Artwork
Syria
Born in Daraa, southwest Syria, in 1989, Mohammad Labash studied painting and drawing at Damascus University.
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.
Lebanon
Biography Nada Rizk is a Lebanese Finnish artist specialising in ceramics and bronze. She holds a Master’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from the London School of Economics and a…
Iran
Artwork
Iran
Artwork
Lebanon
Artwork
Lebanon
Oussama Baalbaki was born in Beirut in 1978, where he studied at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Art. His delicate paintings, often executed
in photo realistic detail, consist of black-and-white self-portraits, most
containing a single surrealistic element.
Iran
Artwork