Dia Azzawi
Dia Azzawi is an Iraqi born painter and sculptor, now living and working in London and one of the pioneers of modern Arab art. He is noted for incorporating Arabic script into his paintings. Active in the arts community, he founded the Iraqi art group known as New Vision and has been an inspiration to a generation of young, calligraffiti artists.
Life and career
Dia Azzawi was born in al-Fadhil, the oldest traditional neighbourhood of Baghdad, in 1939. His father was a grocer in the city centre and Dia was the third of ten children in the family.Azzawi studied archaeology at the College of Arts in Baghdad, graduating in 1962 and later studied at the Institute of Fine Arts, under the guidance of the eminent Iraqi artist, Hafidh al-Droubi, and graduating in 1964. By day, he studied the ancient world, and by night he studied he studied European painting. Azzawi explains, "This contrast meant that I was working with European principles but at the same time using my heritage as part of my work." His exposure to archaeology would influence him greatly as an artist, and he drew inspiration from the ancient myths of Gilgamesh and Imam Hussein, a Muslim hero. Azzawi then continued to study art at the Institute of Fine Art, graduating in 1964.
In the 1950s, he began working with Iraqi artist, Faeq Hassan, who was involved with an arts group called the Pioneers. This group aimed to locate a continuity between traditional and contemporary Iraqi art. During this period, he began to develop his own aesthetic, and was inspired by dramatic moments in Iraq's history.
While enrolled at art school, he joined the local art group, known as the Impressionists, founded by his professor, Hafidh al-Droubi in 1953. While Azzawi was not particularly drawn to impressionism as a style, the group encouraged artists to experiment with different styles, and also to pursue local themes as subject matter. Through his involvement in this group, he began to explore Arab cultural history and mythology, which became recurring themes in his work. He continued his active involvement in Iraq's arts community by joining the group known as the Baghdad Modern Art Group, founded by the artist and intellectual, Shakir Hassan Al Said, in 1951, and later the New Vision Group, for which he wrote the manifesto, which was published in a Baghdad newspaper in 1968.
During a turbulent political period in Iraq, Azzawi served as a reservist in the Iraq army between 1966 and 1973, where he witnessed many atrocities. Through this experience, he learned that he needed to speak for those who have no voice. A number of his works are expressly designed to give a voice to those who have been silenced through war and conflict.
He held the positions of Director of the Iraqi Antiquities Department in Baghdad and Artistic Director of the Iraqi Cultural Centre in London, where he arranged a number of exhibitions. He was the inaugural editor of the magazine, Ur - a provactive new journal published by the Iraqi Cultural Centre in London. He was also the editor of Funoon Arabiyyah and a member of the editorial board of the scholarly journal, Mawakif.
He was still living in Iraq when he witnessed the demise of the avantgarde art groups. At this time, he became more actively involved in the arts community. In 1968, he founded the pivotal Iraqi art group, Al-Ru’yah al-Jadida and wrote its manifesto, Towards a New Vision, which is co-signed by Ismail Fatah Al Turk. Al-Ru’yah al-Jadida represented a freer art style which encouraged artists to remain true to their own era., but also to look to heritage and tradition for inspiration. In this respect, it sought to maintain the broad trends of the prior art groups, such as the Baghdad Modern Group, but at the same time acknowledging that artists were already developed a more free style. This group promoted the idea of freedom of creativity within a framework of heritage. He was also a member of the group One Dimension founded by Shakir Hassan Al Said, which rejected the earlier modern Arab art movement as being too concerned with European techniques and aesthetics.
In the late 1970s, after Iraq came under the control of Saddam Hussein, Azzawi left his native land and settled in London where he met his first wife, the Swedish born, Shashten Finstrom, who worked at the Patrick Seale Gallery, where Azzawi had his first solo British exhibition, in 1978.
Azzawi now spends his time living and working in both London and Doha. In 1991, he was plunged into despair when his saw the destruction to his homeland associated with the Gulf War. He shut himself away in his home for several months, concentrating on his art and producing a series of works, including the Balad Al Sawad series of "violently drawn images of terrified, crying and screaming faces, haunting images of despair."
He is one of the pioneers of the modern Arab art world, with a special interest in the combination of Arabic traditions, including calligraphy, into modern art compositions.
Works
Azzawi was part of the generation of people that saw their countries and homelands fall to bloody dictatorships and wars, and so much of his work is a commentary on the destruction and devastation of Iraq due to war and invasion. His piece, My Broken Dream, a colossal monochromatic work, four meters in height and ten in length, is an assemblage of shapes, limps and swords, and it is an attempt to document a peoples pain, and in the written statement of the artwork, he writes, “Iraq is my inner soul." In addition, Azzawi does not only give voice to his own plight, but to those who are silenced as well, including that of Palestine and Iraqi Kurdistan. One example, The Land of Sad Oranges, is a set of black and white drawings consisting of faceless heads and limp bodies, based on the short story of the same name by Palestinian writer, Ghassan Kanafani. Azzawi was inspired to draw this set after Kanafani, a close friend of his, was murdered in 1972 by the Mossad and in these drawings, he tries to explore the condition of statelessness and particularly the effect it has on the individual. In an interview with Saphora Smith for the Telegraph in 2016, Azzawi said, “I feel I am a witness. If I can give a voice to somebody who has no voice, that is what I should do,” and with this work he tries to document the inner struggle of refugees and explore themes of exile and displacement.The art historian, Nada Shabout, has classified Dia Azzawi's work as belonging to the School of Calligraphic Art using a style termed calligraphic combinations, which means that he combines abstract, freeform and classical styles.
His works are held in prestigious art galleries, art museums and public collections including in both the West and the Middle East: Vienna Public Collection; British Museum, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Gulbenkian Collection, Barcelona; The World Bank, Washington D.C.; Library of Congress, Washington D.C.; Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris; Museum of Modern Art, Paris; Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; Pier Gardin Collection, Paris; Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad; Museum of Modern Art, Damascus; Museum of Modern Art, Tunis; Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; Adel Mandil Collection, Riyadh; The Saudi Bank, London; Jeddah International Airport, Saudi Arabia; Riyadh International Airport, Saudi Arabia; The United Bank of Kuwait, London; Development Fund, Kuwait, Una Foundation, Morocco; Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman; and the British Airways Collection, London.
A number of his works, formerly held in the Iraq National Museum of Modern Art, were subject to the looting that occurred in 2003 following the US invasion of Iraq. At least one of these, The Lost City, rated as one of the top 100 missing works, has since been repatriated. The stolen artworks have been involved in controversy within art circles. A private Iraqi seller, offered The Lost City, for sale with a $50,000 price tag, to a gallery in 2011, in spite of the fact that it was listed by Interpol as a stolen artwork. With the assistance of the gallery, US Embassy in Baghdad, Interpol and the FBI, the work was eventually recovered and returned to the rightful owner, the Iraq National Museum of Modern Art.
He has promoted Arabic art and culture through both his writing and his art. He has published some fourteen books, numerous articles and has edited art magazines. He was the Art Director of the International Magazine of Arab Culture, between 1978 and 1984.
Gallery
Select list of artworks- Demonstration, oil on canvas, 1953
- Story from One Thousand and One Nights, ink on paper, 1962
- And Morning Reached Shahrazad, ink on paper, 1962
- Tragedy at Kabala, ink on paper, 1964
- Testimony of Our Times, 1972
- The Land of Sad Oranges, 1973
- Introduction to the Seven Golden Orbs, silkscreen, 1978
- Al-Jawahiri Verses, 50 X60cm, 1989
- The Crane, hand-coloured lithograph, 1990
- Balad Al Sawad series of nine charcoal drawings on paper, c. 1991
- The Mulallaqast Pre-Islamic Pottery, etching, 50 X 70 cm, date unknown
- Sabra and Chatila Massacre 2012-2013
Exhibitions
| 2016 2014 | "I am the cry, who will give voice to me?" Dia al-Azzawi: A Retrospective , Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar Massacres et Joie de vivre, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| ____ | Selected Works, 1964 - 1973, Frieze Masters, London, United Kingdom |
| 2013 | Bilad al-Sawad and other works, Art Paris Art Fair, Grand Palais, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| ____ | An Itinerary 3. Painting and Poetry, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| 2012 | An Itinerary. 1. Paintings on canvas and wood, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| ____ | An Itinerary. 2. Gouaches on paper, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| ____ | Meem Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| 2011 | Abu Dhabi Art Fair, Meem Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| 2010 | Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| ____ | Abu Dhabi Art Fair, Meem Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| 2009 | Sixth Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Festival, Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates |
| ____ | Meem Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| ____ | Retrospective, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| 2006 | Kalemmat Gallery, Aleppo, Syria |
| ____ | 4 Walls Gallery, Amman, Jordan |
| ____ | Dar al-Funoon Gallery, Kuwait |
| ____ | Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| 2005 | Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| 2004 | Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| ____ | St-Art – Strasbourg's Art Fair, represented by Galerie Claude Lemand, Strasbourg, France |
| 2003 | Palestine and Mahmoud Darwish, Cité du Livre, Aix-en-Provence, France |
| 2001 | Retrospective, Institut de Monde Arabe, Paris, France |
| 1996 | Art Center, Bahrain |
| 1995 | Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| 1994 | Al-Manar Gallery, Casablanca, Morocco |
| ____ | Al-Wasiti Gallery, Casablanca, Morocco |
| ____ | Galerie d'Art 50 x 70, Beirut, Lebanon |
| ____ | Al-Sayed Gallery, Damascus, Syria |
| 1993 | Asilah Festival, Asilah, Morocco |
| ____ | Flandria Gallery, Tanger, Morocco |
| 1992 | Alif Gallery, Washington, D.C., United States of America |
| ____ | Gallerie Hittite, Toronto, Canada |
| 1991 | Galerie D'art 50 x 70, Beirut, Lebanon |
| ____ | Galerie des Arts, Tunis, Tunisia |
| 1990 | Alif Gallery, Washington, D.C., United States of America |
| ____ | Galleri Nakita, Stockholm, Sweden |
| ____ | Vanazff Gallery, Gothenburg, Sweden |
| ____ | Galerie des Art, Tunis, Tunisia |
| 1988 | Galerie Claudine Planque, Lausanne, Switzerland |
| 1986 | Galerie Faris, Paris, France |
| ____ | Royal Cultural Centre, Amman, Jordan |
| 1984 | Alif Gallery, Washington, D.C., United States of America |
| 1983 | National Council for Art and Culture, Kuwait |
| 1980 | Galerie Faris, Paris, France |
| ____ | Galerie Centrale, Geneva, Switzerland |
| 1979 | Al-Riwaq Gallery, Baghdad, Iraq |
| 1978 | Patrick Seale Gallery, London, United Kingdom |
| 1977 | Sultan Gallery, Kuwait |
| 1976 | Galerie Nadhar, Casablanca, Morocco |
| 1975 | National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq |
| 1974 | Sultan Gallery, Kuwait |
| ____ | Contact Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon |
| 1973 | Raslan Gallery, Tripoli, Lebanon |
| 1971 | National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq |
| ____ | Sultan Gallery, Kuwait |
| 1969 | National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq |
| ____ | Sultan Gallery, Kuwait |
| ____ | Gallery One, Beirut, Lebanon |
| 1968 | National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq |
| 1967 | Hall of the Iraqi Artists Society, Baghdad, Iraq |
| 1966 | Gallery One, Beirut, Lebanon |
| 1965 | Al-Wasiti Gallery, Baghdad, Iraq |
Selected Group Exhibitions
| 2015 | Picasso in Contemporary Art, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany |
| 2014 | Arab Modernities, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| ____ | Post-Picasso: Contemporary Reactions, Picasso Museum, Barcelona, Spain |
| ____ | Art Paris Art Fair, Grand Palais, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| ____ | Landscape and Arab Modernity, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| 2013 | D'Orient et d'Occident, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| ____ | Tajreed, Contemporary Arab Platform, Kuwait |
| 2012 | Fan al-Mahjar, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| ____ | Masters of the Tondo, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| 2011 | Art in Iraq Today: Part IV, Meem Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| ____ | Mashreq-Maghreb: Paintings, Sculptures and Prints, Contemporary Arab Platform, Kuwait |
| ____ | Art in Iraq Today: Conclusion, Meem Gallery and Solidere, Beirut, Lebanon |
| 2010 | Interventions, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar |
| 2009 | Modernism and Iraq, Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, United States if America |
| 2008 | Word into Art, British Museum, Dubai International Financial Center, Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| ____ | Iraq's Past Speaks to the Present, British Museum, London, United Kingdom |
| ____ | Iraqi Artists in Exile, Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, Texas United States of America |
| 2006 | Portraits of the Bird, Bastia Festival of Arts, Paris, France |
| ____ | Word into Art, British Museum, London, United Kingdom |
| 2005 | Portraits of the Bird. Books and Drawings, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| ____ | Contemporary Iraqi Book Art, University of North Texas Art Gallery, Denton, Texas, United States of America |
| ____ | Improvisation: Seven Iraqi Artists, Bissan Gallery, Doha, Al-Riwaq Gallery, Manama, 4 Walls Gallery, Amman |
| ____ | Hommage to Shafic Abboud, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| 2004 | Art Books and Paintings, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| 2003 | Colas Foundation, Boulogne, France |
| ____ | Broken Letter, Contemporary Art from Arab Countries, Kunsthalle Darmstadt, Germany |
| 2002 | Masters of the Tondo, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| ____ | The Kinda Foundation Collection, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France |
| 2001 | Machreq-Maghreb: Paintings and Books, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France |
| 1998 | Al-Azzawi and Nasiri, Galerie La Teinturerie, Paris, France |
| 1997 | Five Visual Interpretations, Green Art Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| 1989 | Contemporary Art from the Islamic World, Barbican Centre, London, United Kingdom |
| ____ | Arab Graphic Art, National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, Kuwait |
| 1988 | Olympiad of Art, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea |
| ____ | Al-Azzawi, al-Jumaie, Nasiri, Kufa Gallery, London, United Kingdom |
| 1987 | Third International Print Biennal, Taiwan |
| 1986 | Semitic Museum, Harvard University, Massachusetts, United States of America |
| ____ | Contemporary Arab Art, The Mall Gallery, London, United Kingdom |
| 1985 | Musée Hubert d'Uckerman, Grenoble, France |
| 1984 | British International Print Biennial, Bradford, United Kingdom |
| ____ | First Arab Contemporary Exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, Tunis, Tunisia |
| 1983 | Contemporary Arab Artists Part 3, Iraqi Cultural Centre, London, United Kingdom |
| 1981 | Salon de Mai, Paris, France |
| ____ | Art 12'81, Galerie Faris, Basel, Switzerland |
| ____ | Foire Internationale D'Art Contemporain, Galerie Faris, Paris, France |
| ____ | Seventh International Grafik Triennial, Frechen, Germany |
| 1980 | Third World Biennial of Graphic Art, Iraqi Cultural Centre, London and National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq |
| ____ | The Influence of Arabic Calligraphy on Modern Arab Art, Iraqi Cultural Centre, London, United Kingdom |
| ____ | Seventh International Exhibition of Drawing, Rijeka, Croatia |
| ____ | Twelve Contemporary Arab Artists, Galerie Faris, Paris, France |
| ____ | Salon de Mai, Paris, France |
| ____ | Foire Internationale D'Art Contemporain, Galerie Faris, Paris, France |
| ____ | Salon d'Automne, Espace Cardin, Paris, France |
| 1979 | São Paulo Biennial, Brazil |
| ____ | The Baghdad International Poster Exhibition, Iraqi Cultural Centre, London and National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq |
| ____ | Three Iraqi Artists, al-Riwaq Gallery, Baghdad, Iraq |
| 1978 | Contemporary Arab Graphic Art, Iraqi Cultural Centre, London, United Kingdom |
| ____ | Seven Iraqi Artists, Iraqi Cultural Centre, London, United Kingdom |
| ____ | International Exhibition of Art for Palestine, Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon |
| 1977 | Contemporary Iraqi Art, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait |
| ____ | Six Iraqi Artists, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq |
| ____ | Contemporary Iraqi Art, Bonn, Paris, London, Tunis |
| 1976 | Second Arab Art Biennial, Rabat, Morocco |
| ____ | Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy |
| ____ | Contemporary Iraqi Art, Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris, France |
| ____ | The Fifth International Exhibition of Drawings, Rijeka, Yugoslavia |
| ____ | International Association of Art: Artists against Racism, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq |
| 1975 | Iraqi Graphic Art Exhibition, Iraqi Cultural Centre, Beirut, Lebanon |
| ____ | Seventh International Painting Festival, Cagnes-sur-Mer, France |
| ____ | International Summer Academy, Salzburg, Austria |
| ____ | Collective Graphic Art Exhibition, L'Atelier Gallery, Rabat, Morocco |
| ____ | Collective Graphic Art Exhibition, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq |
| 1974 | Seven Iraqi Artists, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq |
| 1973 | Six Syrian and Iraqi Artists, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad and Arab Cultural Centre, Damascus, Syria |
| 1972 | Four Iraqi Artists, National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq |
| ____ | Three Iraqi Artists, Gallery One, Beirut, Lebanon |
| ____ | Iraqi Contemporary Art Today, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq |
| ____ | Five Iraqi Artists, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq |
| ____ | Fourth International Poster Biennial, Warsaw, Poland |
| ____ | Contemporary Arab Art, Nicosia, Cyprus |
| 1971 | Four Iraqi Artists, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq |
| ____ | Contemporary Iraqi Art, Kuwait |
| ____ | Contemporary Iraqi Art, Mirbad Poetry Festival, Basra, Iraq |
| 1970 | The Iraqi Poster Exhibition, Baghdad, Iraq |
| 1968 | First International Triennial, New Delhi, India |
| ____ | Seventh Annual Exhibition of the Impressionist Group, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq |
| 1966 | Carreras Craven "A" Arab Art Exhibition, traveling exhibition, Cairo, Manama, Kuwait, Baghdad, Amman, Damascus, Beirut, London, Paris, Rome |
| 1965 | Eighth Annual Exhibition of the Iraqi Artists' Society, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq |
| ____ | Fifth Annual Exhibition of the Impressionists Group, Hall of the Iraqi Artists' Society, Baghdad, Iraq |
| ____ | Contemporary Iraqi Art, Gallery One, Beirut, Lebanon |
| ____ | Contemporary Iraqi Art, traveling exhibition, Rome, Budapest, Vienna, Madrid, London, Beirut |
| 1964 | Seventh Annual Exhibition of the Iraqi Artists' Society, Baghdad, Iraq |
Public collections
- Tate Modern, London
- Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art
- Sharjah Art Museum, UAE
- Barjeel Foundation, UAE