Ahmad Kleige was born in Aleppo, Syria in 1964. He studied at the Fathi Mohamed Fine Arts Center in Aleppo.
Syria
Cultural Narratives, commissioned by Rima Nasser, features works from established and emerging artists in the Middle
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.
Iran
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…
United Arab Emirates
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.
Kuwait
Sami Mohammad is a Kuwaiti artist and sculptor considered one of the pioneers of cultural movements in Kuwait and throughout the region.
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.
United Arab Emirates
Ayesha Hadhir is an emerging Emirati visual artist working predominantly in textile, creating textured pieces – either embroidered materials mounted on screens or stand-alone larger-scale sculptural pieces –centralizing the materials she uses, namely brightly colored threads that are often left hanging and unstitched.
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…
Palestine
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.
Lebanon
Artwork
Syria
Gylan Safadi was born in Sweida, Syria in 1977 and studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Damascus.
Syria
Born in Damascus in 1964, Bassem Dahdouh studied art at the University of Damascus and received his PhD from Egypt’s Helwan University.
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.
Lebanon
Born in 1974, Semaan Khawam is a Lebanese painter, designer, graffiti artist, actor, writer, and poet who lives and works in Beirut, Lebanon.
Iran
Biography Sara Rahmanian, born in 1993 in Tehran, Iran, earned her BFA in Painting from the University of Art Tehran in 2016 and her MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Yale University…
Iran
Artwork
Lebanon
Artwork
Egypt
Yasser Abd Elhay Mourad Rostom, more commonly known artistically as Rostom, is a Cairo-based sculptor, painter, furniture designer, and art director. Following his education at the Cairo Faculty of Art, he worked as an art director’s assistant in Egyptian television and in TV commercials.
Syria
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.
Iran
Artwork
United Arab Emirates
Born in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Fatima Al Mazrouie received a degree in Visual Arts and Design from Zayed University, UAE. Her work seeks to interrogate notions of womanhood, specifically what it means to be a Muslim woman in the Arab region.
Syria
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.
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.
Iraq
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.
Egypt
Guirguis Lotfy is best known for his elaborative ancient painting techniques that were deployed between the 1st and 4th Centuries, namely, the use of egg tempera.
Lebanon
Born in Damascus in 1942, Simone Fattal studied philosophy in Paris and Beirut before emigrating to California in 1980, during the Lebanese Civil War.
Jordan
Biography Ufemia Rizk studied at the American University of Beirut, Sorbonne University in Paris, and the Fahrelnissa Zeid Royal Institute of Fine Arts, where she focused on art. At Dawson College in…
Lebanon
Artwork
Iraq
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.
Iran
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.
Lebanon
Biography Born in 1969 in Lebanon, Anachar Basbous lives with his family in Rachana, a village renowned for its open-air sculptures overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Raised in a family of artists—his father,…
Palestine
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.
Syria
Born in Daraa, southwest Syria, in 1989, Mohammad Labash studied painting and drawing at Damascus University.
Lebanon
Artwork
Iran
Artwork
Tunisia
Since his first solo exhibition, Nabil Saouabi has participated in numerous exhibitions in Tunisia and abroad, including in biennials such as Dak’art, Beijing, and the 5th International Biennial of Engraving of Île de France.
Lebanon
Liane Mathes Rabbath is a Beirut-based artist who for the past 20 years or so, has experimented with the diverse medium of collage, creating elaborate geometric works that attest to the versatility of her chosen medium.
Lebanon
Artwork
Lebanon
Artwork
Syria
Born in Syria in 1982, Tarek Butayhi studied painting at Damascus University. He focuses on female figures in his work that seek to challenge traditional representations of femininity in art – namely, the role of women as muses.
Lebanon
Artwork
Syria
Aula Al Ayoubi was born in Damascus in 1973 and studied mathematics and educational sciences at the University of Damascus.
Iraq
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…
Iran
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…
Iran
Biography Mahsa Karimi was born in 1981 in Sabzevar, Iran. She earned an Associate Degree in Graphic Design from Valiasr University, Tehran in 2003, an Associate Degree from TAFE University, Sydney in…
Lebanon
Born in 1963 Beirut, Lebanon, Jean Marc Nahas is best known for his caricature figures and animalistic motifs that capture the psychological dimensions of war, civil conflict and political turmoil.
Iran
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.
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”.
Lebanon
Artwork