Iraqi art


Iraqi art, throughout its entire history, has been influenced by war, revolutions and frequent political changes. For centuries, the capital, Baghdad was the Medieval centre of the literary and artistic Arab world, but its artistic traditions suffered at the hands of the Mongol invaders in the 13th century. During other periods it has flourished, such as during the reign of Pir Budaq, or under Ottoman rule in the 16th century when Baghdad was known for its Ottoman miniature painting. During the rule of the Safavids, Iraqi art was influenced by Persian art, and it became a centre of poetry as well as arts. In the 20th century, an art revival, which combined both tradition and modern techniques, produced many notable poets, painters and sculptors who contributed to the inventory of public artworks, especially in Baghdad. These artists are highly regarded in the Middle East, and some have earned international recognition. The Iraqi modern art movement had a profound influence on pan-Arab art generally.

History

The art historian, Nada Shabout, points out that Iraqi art remains largely undocumented. The West has very little idea about Iraqi art. Problems associated with documenting a complete picture of Iraqi art have been compounded by the fact that many 20th-century artists, art historians and philosophers have been forced into exile, where they are isolated from their heritage and current practices. In addition, much of Iraq's art heritage has been looted or destroyed during periods of revolution, war and political unrest.
Iraq's art has a deep heritage that extends back in time to ancient Mesopotamian art. Iraq has one of the longest written traditions in the world. Maqam traditions in music and calligraphy have survived into the modern day. However, the continuity of Iraq's arts culture has been subject to the vicissitudes of invading armies for centuries. The Mongol invasion of the 13th century devastated much traditional art and craft and is generally seen as a break in the tradition of Iraqi art.
Although British archaeologists excavated a number of Iraqi sites, including Nimrud, Ninevah and Tell Halaf in Iraq in the 19th century, they sent many of the artefacts and statues to museums around the world. It was not until the early 20th century, when a small group of Iraqi artists were awarded scholarships to study abroad, that they became aware of ancient Sumerian art by visiting pretigious museums such as the Louvre, enabling them to reconnect with their cultural and intellectual heritage. Nevertheless, figurines, dating to the Neolithic period, found at the Palace of Tell Halaf and elsewhere, attest to Iraq's ancient artistic heritage.
The Sassanids ruled the region that is now Iraq and Iran between the 3rd and 7th centuries. Sasanian art is best represented in metalwork, jewellery, architecture and wall-reliefs. Few paintings from this period have survived, but an understanding of jewellery ornamentation can be inferred from pictorial and sculptural representations.
During the early Islamic period, writing was transformed into an "iconophoric message...a carrier of meaning independent of its form into a subject worthy of the most elaborate ornamentation." Another development during this period was the use of repeating patterns or motifs on scrolls and wall-reliefs. Inherited from the Muslims, this highly stylised system of ornamentation was subsequently given the label of arabesque.
, Baghdad, showing use of Arabesque
The Abassid Dynasty controlled much of the region now encompassed by Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria, between the 8th and 13th-centuries. During the Abassid period, pottery achieved a high level of sophistication, calligraphy began to be used to decorate the surface of decorative objects and illuminated manuscripts, particularly Q'ranic texts became more complex and stylised. Iraq's first art school was established during this period, allowing artisans and crafts to flourish.
At the height of the Abassid period, in the late 12th century, a stylistic movement of manuscript illustration and calligraphy emerged. Now known as the Baghdad School, this movement of Islamic art was characterised by representations of everyday life and the use of highly expressive faces rather than the stereotypical characters that had been used in the past. The school consisted of calligraphers, illustrators, transcribers and translators, who collaborated to produce illuminated manuscripts derived from non-Arabic sources. The works were primarily scientific, philosophical, social commentary or humorous entertainments. This movement continued for at least four decades, and dominated art in the first half of the 13th century. Poetry also flourished during the Abbasid period, producing notable poets including: the 9th-century Sufi poets Mansur Al-Hallaj and Abū Nuwās al-Ḥasan ibn Hānī al-Ḥakamī.
The Abbasid artist, Yahya Al-Wasiti lived in Baghdad in the late Abassid era was the pre-eminent artist of the Baghdad school. His most well-known works include the illustrations for the book of the Maqamat in 1237, a series of anecdotes of social satire written by al-Hariri. Al-Waiti's illustrations served as an inspiration for the 20th-century modern Baghdad art movement. Other examples of works in the style of the Baghdad School include the illustrations in Rasa'il al-Ikhwan al-Safa, ; an Arabic translation of Pedanius Dioscorides’ medical text, De Materia Medica and the illustrated Kalila wa Dimna, ; a collection of fables by the Hindu, Bidpai translated into Arabic.
For centuries, Baghdad was the capital of the Abbasid caliphate; its library was unrivalled and a magnet for intellectuals around the known world. However, in 1258, Baghdad fell to the Mongol invaders, who pillaged the city, decimating mosques, libraries and palaces, thereby destroying most of the city's literary, religious and artistic assets. The Mongols also killed between 200,000 and one million people, leaving the population totally demoralised and the city barely habitable. Iraqi art historians view this period as a time when the "chain of pictorial art" was broken.
Between the years 1400-1411 Iraq was ruled by the Jalayirid dynasty. During this time, Iraqi art and culture flourished. Between 1411 and 1469, during the rule of the Qara Quyunlu dynasty artists from different parts of the eastern Islamic world were invited to Iraq. Under the patronage of Pir Budaq, son of the Qara Quyunlu ruler, Jahan Shah, Iranian styles from Tabriz and Shiraz and even the styles of Timurid Central Asia were all brought together in Iraq. Baghdad's importance as a centre of the arts declined after Pir Budaq's death in 1466. The Qara Quyunlu period ended with the advent of the Aq Quyunlu. Though noted patrons of the arts, the Aq Quyunlu mostly focus on areas outside Iraq.
Between 1508 and 1534, Iraq came under the rule of the Safavid dynasty, which shifted the focus of arts to Iran. Baghdad experienced a revival in the arts during this period, and was also a centre for literary works. The poet Fuzûlî wrote during the period. He wrote in the three dominant languages of his time: Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. Iraq was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1534, during the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent. The Iraqi poet Fuzûlî wrote in Arabic, Persian and Turkish during this time, and continued writing poetry after Ottoman rule was established in 1534. During the 16th century, Baghdad underwent another period of artistic revival; Iraqi painting from this time is called the “Baghdad school” of Ottoman miniature painting.
Iraqi experienced a cultural shift between the years 1400 and 1600 CE, which is also reflected in its arts. In the 16th century, political rule in Iraq transitioned from the Turco-Mongol dynasties to the Ottoman Empire. In its past Iraq had been a centre of illuminated manuscripts but this art form experienced a general decline during this period.
Statuary, wall paintings and jewellery from ancient sites in Iraq
Selected artwork and handcrafts from post-Islamic structures and sites in Iraq

19th century

Until the 20th century, Iraq had no tradition of easel painting. Traditional art, which included metal-work, rug-making and weaving, glass-blowing, ceramic tiles, calligraphy and wall murals were widely practised during the 19th century. Some traditional practices traced their origins back to the 9th-century Assyrians. However, in the 19th century, mural painters were generally seen as artisans rather than artists - although in traditional Islamic society, the distinction between artists and artists was not well defined. A few named individuals are known, including the painter, Abbud 'the Jewish' Naqqash and the calligrapher, painter and decorator; Hashim al-Khattat and Niazi Mawlawi hashim, but relatively few details of their lives and careers are known.
In the late 19th century, the rise of nationalistic and intellectual movements across the Arab world led to calls for an Arab-lslamic cultural revival. Artists and intellectuals felt that the growth in Western influences was a threat to Arab cultural identity. At the same time as local artists began to adopt Western practices such as easel painting. they also searched consciously for a distinct national style.

20th century

The late 19th century and early 20th century are known as Nahda in Arabic. This term loosely translates as a "revival" or "renaissance." Nahda became an important cultural movement which influenced all art forms - architecture, literature, poetry and the visual arts.
At the turn of the 20th century, a small group of Iraqis were sent to Istanbul for military training, where painting and drawing was included as part of the curriculum. This group, which became known as the Ottoman artists, included Abdul Qadir Al Rassam ; Mohammed Salim Moussali ; Hassan Sami, Assem Hafith ; Mohammed Saleh Zaki and Hajji Mohammed Salim. were exposed to European painting techniques. Their style of painting was realism, impressionism or romanticism. On their return to Baghdad, they set up studios and began to offer painting lessons to talented, local artists. Many of the next generation of artists began by studying with the artists from the Ottoman group. Their public works, which included murals, public monuments and artworks in the foyers of institutions or commercial buildings, exposed Iraqi people to Western art and contributed to art appreciation.
As Middle-Eastern nations began to emerge from colonial rule, a nationalist sentiment developed. Artists consciously sought out ways to combine Western art techniques with traditional art and local subject matter. In Iraq, 20th century artists were at the forefront of developing a national style, and provided a model for other Arab nations who wanted to forge their own national identities.

Literature

Poetry and verse remains a major art form in modern Iraq and Iraqi poets were inspired by the literature of the 15th and 16th-centuries when Iraq was the centre of Arabic world. Notable 20th-century poets include Nazik Al-Malaika, one of the best known woman poets in the Arab world and who wrote the poem My Brother Jafaar for her brother, who was killed during the Al-Wathbah uprising in 1948; Muḥammad Mahdī al-Jawāhirī ; Badr Shakir al-Sayyab ; Abd al-Wahhab Al-Bayati Ma'rif al-Rasafi ; Abdulraziq Abdulwahed ; the revolutionary poet, Muzaffar Al-Nawab ; Buland Al Haidari and Janil Sidiq al-Zahaiwi. In post-war Iraq, poetry was very much influenced by the political and social upheavals that Iraqis had experienced throughout the 20th century and with many poets living in exile, themes of 'strangeness' and 'being a stranger' often dominated contemporary poetry.
Iraqi poets, including Badr Shakir al-Sayyab, often turned to Iraqi folklore which they often integrated with Western mythology. He is considered one of the most influential Arab poets because he was the first to develop the free form style of poetry, and therefore a prime mover in the development of modernist poetry. Contemporary Iraqi poetry is considerably freer than traditional verse, and is imbued with social and political awareness.

Photography

Scholars point out that very little is known about photography in Iraq. Iraq was relatively slow to adopt photography as an industry and art form, due to the religious and social prohibitions on making figurative images. The first camera entered Iraq as late as 1895 when an Iraqi photographer, Abdul-Karim Tiouti, from Basra, returned to Iraq following a trip to India where he had studied the art of photography. He founded a photographic studio and practiced this profession for many years.
In the first decades of the 20th century, several factors contributed to the spread of photography. Firstly, British and European archaeologists began using photography to document ancient sites in the second half of the 19th century. Religious missionaries were also using the camera to document historic religious sites. These activities exposed local Iraqis to the technology, and provided young men with employment opportunities as photographers and camera-men assisting archaeological teams. For instance, throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, the American anthropologist, Professor Henry Field was involved in several expeditions to ancient Mesopotamian sites and in his publications, he acknowledged the assistance of Iraqi photographer by the name of Shauqat. The writer, Gertrude Bell also reports training a young boy in the process of developing photographs in Baghdad in 1925. A second factor was that, in the 1920s, King Faisal I arranged for a photographic portrait of his wife, thereby popularising photographic portraiture.
In the years following the First World War, a number of photographers arrived in Iraq. Some of these were displaced Armenians, who had prior experience working with precision equipment, including cameras. These early photographers were mostly concerned with photographing military scenes and personnel. Around this time, a photographer named Tartaran, set up a studio at the entrance to the Mosul Elementary School. From there, local school children could observe the photographer at work. The influential Mosul photographer, Murad al-Daghistani, who specialised in capturing the life and work of every-day people in Mosul, may have developed his passion for photography after watching Tartaran developing photographs in his dark-room. By the 1940s, the number of photographic studios had proliferated, especially in Mosul, Basra and Baghdad. Important 20th-century Iraqi photographers include: Amri Salim, Hazem Bak, Murad Daghistani, Covadis Makarian, Sami Nasrawi, Ahmed Al-Qabbani, Jassem Al-Zubaidi, Fouad Shaker and Rashad Ghazi amongst others.
The earliest photographers used the medium to record an Iraqi way of life that was in danger of being lost as the country 'modernised'. The photographer, Latif al-Ani, who is often described as the "father of Iraqi photography", was very much concerned with documenting cosmopolitan Iraqi life in the 1950s, as he saw it. By the mid-20th century, photography had become a popular medium for expressing social and political concerns. The artist, Jananne al-Ani has explored the dichotomy of Orient/ Occident in her work, and has also used photography to question the wearing of the veil while Halim Alkarim uses blurred images to suggest the political instability of Iraq.

Architecture

Modern architecture presented contemporary architects with a major challenge. A continuous tradition of both domestic and public architecture was evident, but failed to conform with modern materials and methods. From the early 20th century, architecture employed new styles and new materials and public taste became progressively modern. The period was characterised by original designs produced by local architects, who had been trained in Europe, including: Mohamed Makiya, Makkiyya al-Jadiri, Mazlum, Qatan Adani and Rifat Chadirji.
Like visual artists, Iraqi architects searched for a distinctly national style of architecture and this became a priority in the 20th century. Mohammed Makkiyya and Rifat Chadirji were the two most influential architects in terms of defining modern Iraqi architecture. The architect, Chadirji, who wrote a seminal book on Iraqi architecture, called this approach international regionalism. He explains:
Architects sought an architectural language that would remind visitors of ancient Iraqi architectural history. To that end, architects used Iraqi motifs in their designs and incorporated traditional design practices, such as temperature control, natural ventilation, courtyards, screen walls and reflected light within their work. Architects also became designers who designed furniture and lighting with reference to the peculiarities of Iraqi climate, culture and material availability.
As cities underwent a period of "modernisation" in the early decades of the 20th century, traditional structures came under threat and subject to demolition. The mudhif or the bayt with features such as the shanashol and bad girs were being lost with alarming haste.
The architect, Rifat Chadirji along with his father, Kamil Chadirji, feared the vernacular architecture and ancient monuments would be lost to the new development associated with the oil boom in the mid-century. They documented the region photographically and in 1995, published a book entitled, The Photographs of Kamil Chadirji: Social Life in the Middle East, 1920-1940, which recorded the buildings and lifestyles of the Iraqi people. The artist, Lorna Selim, who taught drawing at Baghdad University's Department of Architecture, in the 1960s took her students to sketch traditional buildings along the Tigris and was especially interested in exposing young architects to Iraq's vernacular architecture, alley-ways and historical monuments. The work of Selim and Chadirji inspired a new generation of architects to consider including traditional design features - such as Iraqi practices of temperature control, natural ventilation, courtyards, screen walls and reflected light - in their designs.

Visual arts

During the first three decades of the 20th century, there was little progress in art. Following World War One, a group of Polish officers, who had been part of the Foreign Legion, arrived in Baghdad and introduced local artists to a European style of painting, which in turn fostered a public appreciation of art. The Institute of Fine Arts and the Fine Arts Society were established in 1940-41 and the Iraqi Artists' Society was founded in 1956, after which many exhibitions were mounted.
In 1958, British rule was overthrown and Abdul Karim Qasim assumed power. This led to triumphant demonstrations and expressions of national pride. In early 1959, Qasim commissioned Jawad Saleem to create Nasb al-Hurriyah to commemorate Iraq's independence. Artists began to look to their history for inspiration and employed arabesque geometry and calligraphy as visual elements in their compositions, and referred to folk tales and scenes drawn from everyday life for artistic inspiration.
In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, the Ba'ath Party mounted a program to beautify the city of Baghdad which led to numerous public art works being commissioned. Designed to instil a sense of national pride within the population, and to immortalise the leader, Saddam Hussein, these works provided work opportunities to the nation's architects, engineers and sculptors. During this period, artists showed a distinct preference for abstract works, which allowed them to evade censorship. Baghdad is now dotted with monuments, including Al-Shaheed Monument and The Monument to the Unknown Soldier and the Victory Arch, along with many smaller statues, fountains and sculptures; all constructed in the second half of the 20th century, and showing increasing levels of abstraction over time.
A notable feature of the Iraqi visual arts scene lies in artists' desires to link tradition and modernity in artworks. For a number of artists, the use of calligraphy or script has become an important part of integrating traditional artistic elements into an abstract artwork. In this way, the use of letters connects Iraqi artists with the broader hurufiyya movement.'' The Iraqi artist, Madiha Omar, who was active from the mid-1940s, was one of the pioneers of the hurufiyya movement, since she was the first to explore the use of Arabic script in a contemporary art context and exhibited hurufiyya-inspired works in Washington as early as 1949.

Art groups

The 20th-century Iraqi arts scene is notable for the number of different art groups or art movements that emerged in the post-colonial period. Each of these groups sought to forge a national art aesthetic that acknowledged Iraq's deep art heritage and incorporated it in contemporary artworks. Although there were tensions in the different visions of these groups, collectively, they actively searched for new national vision which would enable the country to develop internally, as well as take its place on a world stage. These groups include:

''Al-Ruwad'' (The Pioneers)

''Jum'at al Ruwwad'' (The Avantgarde Group and later known as the Primitive Group)

''Jama’et Baghdad lil Fen al-Hadith'' (The Baghdad Modern Art Group)

''The Impressionists''

''Al Mujadidin'' (The Innovationists)

''Majmueat Al-Zawiya'' (The Corners Group)

''Al-Ru’yah al-Jadida'' (The New Vision)

''Jama’et al-Bu’d al Wahid'' ([One Dimension Group])

Other 20th-century groups

Other art groups, including the Triangle Group, the Shadows and the Academicians formed throughout the 1970s, but few lasted for more than a year or two.

''Jamaat el-Jidaar'' (The Wall Group)

Notable Iraqi artists

Iraq has produced a number of world-class painters and sculptors including Ismail Fatah Al Turk, Khalid Al-Jadir, and Mohammed Ghani Hikmat.
Faeq Hassan, considered the founder of modern plastic art in Iraq, was among several Iraqi artists who were selected to study art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts before the Second World War. Hassan and the art group he founded formed the foundation of Iraq's strong 20th-century artistic tradition. Hassan founded the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad; many of Iraq's best known artists studied at this institution.
Jawad Saleem is a painter and sculptor from Baghdad who , founded the influential Baghdad Modern Art Group in 1951. Saleem was commissioned to create the Monument of Freedom in Baghdad's city centre overlooking Liberation Square. Saleem, and his student, Khaled al-Rahal have been described as "the two pillars of modern Iraqi art."
Dia Azzawis work, described as contemporary art, includes references to Arabic calligraphy, as well as Sumerian and Assyrian art. Azzawi has been the inspiration for many contemporary calligraffiti artists.
Jamil Hamoudi is both a painter and sculptor. Like Azzawi, Hamoudi also studied at the Baghdad School of Fine Art. He was interested in the cubist movement and in 1947, he self-identified with the surrealist movement, only to later distance himself citing "A dark, saturnine atmosphere emanated from the effect of which was to arouse a feeling of despair in human beings." His paintings are brightly coloured and make use of shapes like circles, triangles and arches. For sculpture he frequently uses plaster, stone, wood, metal, copper, glass, marble, Plexiglas and ceramics. In 1973 he was appointed to the directorship of the Fine Arts at the Ministry of Culture.
Other notable artists include: Madiha Omar who is regarded as a pioneer of the Hurufiyya movement; Shakir Hassan Al Said ; Hassan Massoudy ; Khaled al-Rahal ; Saadi Al Kaabi ; Ismael Al Khaid and Rafa al-Nasiri.
Contemporary painting and sculpture by Iraqi artists

Recent developments

From 1969, the Arab nationalist political agenda of the Ba'ath Party encouraged Iraqi artists to create work that would explain Iraq's new national identity in terms of its historical roots. The Iraqi Ministry of Culture is involved in efforts to preserve tradition Iraqi crafts like leather-working, copper-working, and carpet-making.
, Baghdad shortly after the Iraq War invasion. The removal of statues was part of a de-Ba'athification process
In 2003, during the overthrow of the Ba'ath government, key institutions, including the Pioneers Museum and the Museum of Modern Art, were looted and vandalised. Approximately 8,500 paintings and sculptures, especially were stolen or vandalised. The occupying forces insisted on a voluntary return of stolen artworks, a position which resulted in very few works being returned. A few independent galleries purchased artworks with a view to returning them once a suitable national museum could be established. A committee, headed by the respected artist and sculptor, Mohammed Ghani Hikmat, was formed with the objective of recovering stolen artworks and proved somewhat more effective. By 2010, some 1,500 artworks had been recovered, including important works, such as the statue, Motherhood by Jawad Saleem.
Since 2003, attempts at de-Ba'athification have been evident, with the announcement of plans to rid Baghdad's cityscape of monuments constructed during Saddam Husssein's rule. However, due to public pressure, plans have been made to store such monuments rather than arrange for their total destruction as had occurred in previous regimes. In addition, efforts are underway to erect new monuments which display significant figures from Iraq's history and culture. Recent developments also include plans to conserve and convert the former homes of Iraqi artists and intellectuals, including the artist Jawad Saleem, the poet Muhammad Mahdi al-Jawahiri, and others.
In 2008, Iraq was again involved in violence as coalition forces entered the country. Many artists fled Iraq. The Ministry of Culture has estimated that more than 80 percent of all Iraqi artists are now living in exile. The number of artists living abroad has created opportunities for new galleries in London and other major centres to mount exhibitions featuring the work of exiled artists from Iraqi and Middle Eastern. One such gallery is Soho's Pomegranate gallery established in the 1970s by the modernist Iraqi sculptor, Oded Halahmy, which not only mounts exhibitions, but also holds permanent collections of notable Iraqi artists.
Shortages of art materials were commonplace in the aftermath of war. However, visual artists such as Hanaa Malallah and Sadik Kwaish Alfraji turned to "found objects" and incorporated these into their artworks. Malallah consciously included shrapnel and bullets in her paintings and called this the Ruins Technique which allows her to not only make statements about war, but also to explore how objects become ruins.
Literature, art and architecture are cultural assets in Iraq. However, certain archaeological sites, and museums have been ransacked by Islamic terrorists, notably the ancient city of Nimrud, near Mosul; the Adad and Mashqi gates at Nineveh; the ancient city of Hatra The United Nations has described acts of cultural vandalism as war crimes. In 2014, Islamic militants invaded the city of Mosul, destroying ancient monuments and statues, which they perceived to be blasphemous, and ransacked the History Museum. Mostafa Taei, a resident of Hamam al-Alil was jailed by ISIL when the terrorists took over his town in 2014. ISIL banned any images or artworks of the human form, and Taei says he was beaten when the group learned that he was still painting. During this period, Taei's art "took a subversive turn, becoming a gruesome record of atrocities: decapitations, hangings, injured children and sobbing widows, all painted in an unschooled Naive art style." He also started to paint "martyr posters" that depict the soldiers and police officers who have died during the military operations to liberate Nineveh.
The art historian, Nada Shabout, notes that the destruction of Iraqi art in the period after 2003, assumed both tangible and intangible forms. Not only were the artworks and art institutions looted or destroyed, but art production also suffered from the lack of availability of art materials and the loss of many intellectuals, including artists, who were forced into exile. This contributed to an environment that failed to nurture artists, and saw young, upcoming artists operating in a void.
Iraqi monumental artworks, both ancient and modern, feature prominently on banknotes of the Iraqi dinar.
Selected bank-notes featuring monumental artwork

Art Museums and Galleries in Baghdad

The principal venues include: