Qatar Museums hosts talk with Iraqi artist

Mathaf: the Arab Museum of Modern Art, in partnership with the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, convened a reading panel with internationally acclaimed Iraqi artist Dia al-Azzawi. Marking the one-year anniversary since the conclusion of the artist’s largest ever retrospective organised by Qatar Museums (QM) in 2016, the event also featured a signing ceremony for a newly-published book on the artist’s work.In conversation with Doha Institute professors, the London-based al-Azzawi spoke about his new book Dia Azzawi, a Retrospective from 1963 until tomorrow, published by QM. The authoritative book documents the full spectrum of the artist’s work and career. The monograph includes essays by leading experts in the field: Catherine David, in her role of exhibition curator; Nada Shabout, professor of Art History and director of Contemporary Arab and Muslim Cultural Studies Initiative at the University of North Texas; May Muzzafar, poet and writer on the subject of Iraqi art since the early 1970s; and Zainab Bahrani, professor of Ancient Near Eastern Art and Archaeology in the Department of Art History at Columbia University.Joining al-Azzawi in the discussion at the event included Mathaf director Abdellah Karroum, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences dean Dr Abdul Wahab al-Afandi, Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies researcher Dr Haidar Said, Comparative Literature Programme chairman Dr Ayman El-Desouki, Sociology and Anthropology Programme president Dr Ismail Nashef.“The launch of Dia Al-Azzawi’s publication at the Doha Institute is a historical moment in the making of cultural institutions in Qatar,” Karroum said. “This is a major research project and collaboration between a museum and a university, expanding the role of our institutions in writing modern and contemporary art histories.”“This form of academic research builds on the existing collaboration with several scholars at Doha Institute who are involved in the research and writing for the Mathaf Encyclopaedia of Modern Art and the Arab World, an online, publicly accessible, peer-reviewed encyclopaedia,” Karroum added.Nashef echoed Karroum’s statement saying “the joint event signals the crucial role of institutions of higher education in advancing deeper knowledge of the history of modern Arab culture, of which the work and artistic achievements of al-Azzawi constitute a major chapter.”“The collaboration between QM and the Doha Institute promises the breakdown of institutional barriers and a radical new mode of engaging current Arab realities,” he added.Al-Azzawi has had a long association with QM, featuring in the opening exhibition of Mathaf and QM Al Riwaq in 2010. His work is included in the ongoing Mathaf Encyclopaedia of Modern Art and the Arab World, a pioneering online project developed by QM, Qatar Foundation and Mathaf, to comprehensively document the work of Arab artists of the 20th and 21st century. In 2016, QM hosted the largest ever retrospective of al-Azzawi’s work titled ‘I am the cry, who will give voice to me? Dia al-Azzawi: A Retrospective (from 1963 until tomorrow)’. The artist has also created a number of iconic public artworks that appear in prominent locations across Doha for the local community and visitors to enjoy. A carousel designed by al-Azzawi entitled Enchanted East and a Hanging Gardens sculpture opened in the Museum of Islamic Art Park, while QM also unveiled two installations at Hamad International Airport by the artist.