Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art opened “What Lingers in the Artist’s Mind”, a major exhibition exploring more than seven decades of Iraqi artistic thought and experimentation through the story of the Baghdad Modern Art Group and the ideas that transformed modern art in Iraq.
On view until February 6, 2027, the exhibition immerses audiences in the creative and intellectual world of the artists through artworks, archival material and original research to trace the development of a distinctly Iraqi artistic language.
Organised across 17 thematic sections, the exhibition gathers paintings, sculptures, sketches, photographs and archival documents to explore Mesopotamian heritage, Islamic traditions, folklore and how contemporary life intersects with international modernist ideas, revealing how artists drew on multiple sources to reimagine what modern Iraqi art could be.
Founded in 1951 by Jewad Selim and Shakir Hassan al-Said, the Baghdad Modern Art Group approached modernism as a space for experimentation.
Drawing on Iraq’s cultural and visual histories while engaging with international artistic movements, its members developed new forms of expression addressing questions of identity, heritage and modernity that continue to resonate in contemporary artistic practice.
Drawn extensively from Mathaf’s internationally significant collection of Iraqi art, “What Lingers in the Artist’s Mind” moves beyond a linear history of the group to explore its changing membership, exhibitions, ideas and influence.
Works from the 1940s to the present day show how the questions explored by the group have been revisited and transformed by successive generations of artists.
The exhibition also makes visible how art history itself is constructed as its archival fragments, photographs and curatorial research sit alongside works of art, while missing works and documentation shaped by conflict and displacement are deliberately acknowledged.
Together, these elements invite visitors to consider art history as an evolving process of discovery, interpretation and recovery.
Presented as part of Qatar Museums (QM)’s Fall/Winter 2026 programme, “What Lingers in the Artist’s Mind” contributes to a season of major cultural experiences highlighting Qatar’s role as a crossroads of people, cultures and ideas, creating opportunities for discovery, dialogue and exchange.
