Creating and Exhibiting Modern Iraqi Art, in Baghdad or Elsewhere: Between Individual Initiatives and State Support
Article by Silvia Naef, published in The Rise of Arab Art edited by Andrée Sfeir-Semler.
Silvia Naef explores how modern Iraqi art took shape through the interplay between state ambitions and individual creativity. Tracing developments from the late Ottoman period to the height of cultural production in the 1970s and 1980s, the chapter follows the emergence of art education, early exhibitions, and international training networks that connected Baghdad to Europe and the wider Arab world.
Recommended to everyone interested in Iraqi art, the article offers insights into how Iraqi artists shaped their practice amid changing political and cultural frameworks.
“Creating and Exhibiting Modern Iraqi Art, in Baghdad or Elsewhere: Between Individual Initiatives and State Support” appears in The Rise of Arab Art (2025), edited by Andrée Sfeir-Semler.
