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 farbod elkaee artwork

Farbod Elkaee

Biography Farbod Elkaee, born in 1992 in Tehran, graduated in painting from Soore Art University in 2015. Living and working in Tehran, he has been active in painting and sculpture since 2006.…

Ginane Makki Bacho

Born in Beirut, Ginane Makki Bacho is a multimedia artist whose work offers a unique perspective on the disruptive and brutal effects of the Lebanese Civil War and on-going wars in the contemporary world.

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…

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…

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…

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.

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.

Nedim Kufi

Nadim Kufi was born in Bagdad in 1962. Since 1994 he has been residing and working permanently in the Netherlands as a multidisciplinary visual artist.

cultural narratives perryhan el ashmawi artwork

Perryhan El Ashmawi

Biography Perry El Ashmawi was born in Bahrain in 1988 to Egyptian parents. She earned a BA in Fine Arts, specialising in Painting and Drawing, from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, in 2009.…

Ahmed Al Bahrani

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.

Nadim Karam

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.

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.

Abed Al Kadiri

Abed Al Kadiri is a Lebanese artist and curator who has played a sizable role in developing and showcasing art from the region.

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…

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…

Mansour El Habre

Mansour El Habre was born in Lebanon in 1970 and studied fine arts at the Lebanese University and the University of Balamand.

Ghassan Nana

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.

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).

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,…

Al Anood Al Obaidly

Al Anood Al Obeidli is an Emirati visual artist from Abu Dhabi, UAE, who works primarily in collage producing works that are almost sculptural in form.  Born in 1990, this young artist received her degree in Visual Arts from the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, and in 2014 participated in the Sheikha Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation Emerging Artist Fellowship Programme.

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.

Zeina Badran

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.

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…

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…

Resmi Al Kafaji

Resmi Al Kafaji was born in Diywania, Iraq in 1945. He earned a
degree in Art from the Institute of Fine Arts of Baghdad, then later
a diploma in Fine Arts in painting from the Accademia di Belle Arti
of Florence, Italy. His work is a merging of Iraqi and European
culture.

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”.

Simone Fattal

Born in Damascus in 1942, Simone Fattal studied philosophy in Paris and Beirut before emigrating to California in 1980, during the Lebanese Civil War.

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.

cultural narratives sarah abou mrad artwork

Sarah Abou Mrad

Lebanese artist Sarah Abou Mrad was born in 1988. She is a Fine Arts
graduate of Painting from the Lebanese University. In 2010 she established the Art department at “Sainte-Anne des Sœurs de Besançon” school in Beirut where she taught arts for 10 years.

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.

Afaf Zurayk

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.