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 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.…

Nabil Saouabi

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.

cultural narratives ghasemi brothers artwork

Ghasemi Bothers

Biography The Ghasemi Brothers – Morteza, Sina, and Mojtaba Ghasemi Sheelsar – have been collaborating since 2015. While they each pursue their own painting projects individually, they also come together to work…

Ayman Baalbaki

Ayman Baalbaki was born in Adeisseh in 1975, the same year the Lebanese civil war began. A lot of his work tackles this conflict and its aftermath. It looks at destruction, displacement, loss, identity, and collective memory. Baalbaki is best-known for his large-scale paintings, executed primarily in thick acrylic paint, distinct for their sense of organised chaos.

Anachar Basbous

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,…

Leila Jabre Jureidini

Leila Jabre Jureidini’s painting and sculptural work bridge the gulf between classical and conceptual art. Born in Lebanon in 1963, the Beirut-based artist studied in Paris and New York and worked as a designer for many years.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Carla Salem

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

cultural narratives eman hussein artwork

Eman Hussein

Biography Eman Hussein was born in 1986 in Cairo, Egypt. She is an Egyptian architect and artist who leads a creative studio that blurs the boundaries between art, architecture, and design. Eman…

Ghadah Alkandari

Ghadah Alkandari is an artist living and working in Kuwait, born in India in 1969 with a BA in Mass Communications from the American University in Cairo (1992).

cultural narratives ufemia rizk artwork

Ufemia Rizk

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…

Nadia Jelassi

Nadia Jelassi, born in Tunisia in 1958. Jelassi presented her first works in 1990 at the Biennial of Young Creators from Europe and the Mediterranean at the Museum of Vielle Charité in Marseille, and later in 1992 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Gibellina, Italy and the Metropolitan Museum in Tokyo.

Yasmina Nysten

Oregon-based artist Yasmina Nysten was born in Helsinki in 1988 and has lived in Finland, France, Lebanon, New York and Philadelphia. She studied Fine Arts at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Art (ALBA) and Digital Animation at New York’s Pratt Institute.

cultural narratives omar al shahabi artwork

Omar Al Shahabi

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…

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.

Jamil Molaeb

Jamil Molaeb was born in Baysour, a town in the Chouf region of Lebanon where he continues to live and work.  In addition to painting, Molaeb is a sculptor and makes mosaics – a practice reflected in his canvas works.

Guirguis Lotfy

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.

Gilbert Hage

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.

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 sara rahmanian artwork

Sara Rahmanian

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…

Julie Bou Farah

Born in Dahr El Sawan, in 1965, Julie Bou Farah graduated from the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA) where she later went on to teach in 1991.  Farah has also held teaching positions at Notre Dame University and the Lebanese University.

Samia Halaby

Samia Halaby is a leading figure in the abstraction movement within the Arab world and a preeminent scholar of Palestinian Art.

Mahmoud Obaidi

Born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1966, Mahmoud Obaidi is an IraqiCanadian globally exhibited Avant-garde artist who deals with any medium that would best represent his concept: painting, sculpture, photography, installation.

Noor Bahjat

Born in Damascus in 1991, Noor Bahjat lives and works in the United Arab Emirates.

Nizar Othman

Nizar Othman is a visual artist born in Lebanon and of Syrian descent. Outhman began his professional career working as a journalist and caricaturist, for which he was awarded the Bronze medal at the Guangxi international comics in 2007 (University city Guangxi); the “Excellence Award at e Competition of Guangxi international comics in 2007 (University city Guangxi) China; a Special Honorary Prize – Competition of the International Journal of Rhino (Bosnia and Herzegovina) in 2008. 

Barsoum Barsouma

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.

Ahoo Maher

B. 1990, Tehran, living in Vienna since 2008.

Walid Agha

Walid Agha was born in Damascus in 1953 and studied Visual Communications at the University of Damascus before establishing his own silk-screening workshop.

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…

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.

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.

Elias Izoli

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