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.

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.

Walid El Masri

Walid El Masri was born in Syria in 1979. Prior to receiving his BA from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Damascus in 2005, he studied mosaic-making.

Feryel Lakhdar

Born in Tunisia in 1965, Feryel Lakhdar studied at École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture and at École des Beaux-arts in Paris. She took part in the production of film set design when she moved to France to study urban and furniture design.

Mohamad Omer Khalil

Mohamad Omer Khalil is a leading figure in the contemporary Arab art world whose work in painting and print-making has influenced two generations of artists from the region.

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.

Carla Salem

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

Ghassan Zard

Born in Lebanon in 1954, Ghassan Zard lives and works in Beirut. Influenced by lyrical abstraction, Zard began his artistic career as a painter but later focused predominantly on sculptural works rendered in polished wood, aluminium and raw steel.

Mahmood Shubbar

Mahmood Shubbar was born in Babel in 1965. He received a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Baghdad University in 1986 and later went on to receive his Ph.D. in Fine Arts.

cultural narratives amir soghrati artwork

Amir Kasra Golrang

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…

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.

Jacques Rizkallah

Born in 1959 in Deir El Kamar, Lebanon Jacques Rizkallah graduated from the Lebanese University of Fine Arts, after which he studied Mural and Fresco Painting in Rome, Italy.   His abstract works explode with color.

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…

Ismail Al Rifai

Ismail Al Rifai was born in Mayadin in 1967 and studied Fine Art at the University of Damascus. Al Rifai has served as a member of the Syrian Fine Arts Syndicate as well as the UAE Fine Arts Society and currently works as a researcher in the Department of Culture and Information in Sharjah.

cultural narratives ali neema artwork

Ali Neema

Artwork

Saddam Jumaily

Born in Basra in 1974, Saddam Jumaily lives and works in Jordan. He has a bachelor degree in Plastic Arts and an MA in Fine Arts-Painting department from the Basra University College of Fine Arts, Iraq, where has also lectured in Fine Arts.

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…

cultural narratives nadya zarraghoui artwork

Nadya Zarrougui

Biography Nadya Zarrougui, born on January 27, 1988, in Tunis, is a visual artist. She has a master’s degree in Fine Arts with a focus on painting and research in Aesthetics and…

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”.

Nihad Al Turk

Born in Aleppo in 1972, self-taught artist Nihad Al Turk’s work focuses on the existential crisis of the individual caught up in power struggles between good and evil. Based in Beirut, Al Turk situates his work against a backdrop of literature and philosophy, painting a recurrent cast of mythical demons, outcasts, and antiheroes.

cultural narratives habib farajabadi artwork

Habib Farajabadi

Biography Habib Farajabadi, born in 1982 in Iran, is a painter and sculptor based in Tehran. He employs various tools like nails, wood stock, forks, and brushes to create his vibrant acrylic…

Laure Ghorayeb

Born in Deir al-Qamar in 1931, Laure Ghorayeb has been exhibiting her intricate ink drawings since the 1960s, documenting the people and events in her life, and charting their experiences of living through political conflict.

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.

Hazem Harb

Born in Palestine in 1980, Hazem Harb is a visual artist who has
lived in Gaza, Rome and the UAE.

Jean Boghossian

Born in Aleppo, Syria in 1949, Jean Boghossian is an abstract, multidisciplinary
artist of Armenian descent. He studied Economics and Sociology at Saint Joseph
University (USJ) in Beirut while working for the family jewellery business. In 1975,
he moved to Belgium to escape the civil war in Lebanon.

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.

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.

Ymen Berhouma

Born in Tunisia in 1976, self-taught artist Ymen Berhouma lives and works between Paris and Tunis. Her debut in the art world began through her vibrant painting whose characters invited spectators into a dream-like world.

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…

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,…

cultural narratives asmaa genidi artwork

Asmaa Genidi

Biography Asmaa Genidi was born in 1983 in Giza. She is a teacher at Helwan University, Art Education College, and holds a PhD in Art Education Philosophy, earned in 2016. She has…

Ahmad Kleige

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

cultural narrartives amin montazeri artwork

Amin Montazeri

Biography Amin Montazeri, born in 1992 in Tehran, Iran, earned his BFA in Painting in 2014 and his MA in Painting in 2016 from Tehran’s University of Art. Montazeri creates detailed illustrative…

Edward Shahda

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

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.

Nariman Farrokhi

Nariman Farrokhi was born in Tehran, Iran in 1985. He has created a unique approach to language, using words for visual impact,
favouring simplicity and directness.

Mohsen Ahmadvand

Born in Tehran, Iran in 1982, Mohsen Ahmadvand received his BA
in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Tehran University. He
prefers drawing over painting for its efficiency and directness.

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…