Gli artisti iracheni contemporanei non hanno mai avuto la possibilità di presentare il loro lavoro per un padiglione iracheno alla Biennale di Venezia; la prima e ultima rilevante comparsa, nel 1976, ha mostrato solo alcuni dei loro artisti “moderni”. Il padiglione dell’Iraq del 2011 vuole presentare al mondo un’interessante selezione di 6 artisti da due generazioni, che comprendono diverse discipline artistiche (pittura, performance, video, fotografia e installazione).
Ali Assai, Commissario per il Padiglione dell’Iraq 2011

Acqua Ferita / Wounded Water
Sei artisti iracheni interpretano il tema dell’acqua

Questo è un periodo straordinario per l’Iraq. Il progetto di creare un padiglione ufficiale per la 54°edizione della Biennale di Venezia nasce da un incessante lavoro di squadra iniziato nel 2004. Avviene storicamente in un periodo di grande rinnovamento, dopo oltre 30 anni di guerre e di conflitti.
Il Padiglione dell’Iraq accoglierà sei artisti contemporanei iracheni di fama internazionale che si caratterizzano per una ricerca artistica sperimentale dovuta all’esperienza sia dentro che fuori il loro paese.
Questi artisti, dopo aver studiato arti visive a Baghdad, hanno completato il percorso artistico in Europa e negli Stati Uniti. Rappresentano due generazioni: la prima, nata nei primi anni ‘50, ha vissuto sia l’instabilità politica che la ricchezza culturale di quel periodo in Iraq. Ali Assaf, Azad Nanakeli e Walid Siti erano già attivi durante gli anni ‘70, nel periodo di creazione del socialismo politico che ha segnato la loro formazione. La seconda generazione, che include Adel Abidin, Ahmed Alsoudani e Halim Al Karim, è cresciuta durante il dramma della guerra Iran-Iraq (1980-1988), l’invasione del Kuwait, la schiacciante sanzione economica delle Nazioni Unite e il successivo isolamento artistico. Questi artisti, usciti dal paese prima dell’invasione del 2003, trovano rifugio in Europa e negli USA grazie anche ad un connubio di fortuna e capacità artistiche. Tutti i sei artisti hanno, dunque, un’identità forgiata da una pratica artistica contemporanea che congiunge la situazione globale alla particolare esperienza irachena e rappresentano un approccio sofisticato e sperimentale di portata internazionale.
I sei artisti eseguiranno opere in situ, ispirate sia agli spazi della Gervasuti Foundation che alla tematica dell’acqua. Questo è un argomento attuale in quanto la mancanza di un bene primario come l’acqua è una delle maggiori emergenze in Iraq, più della guerra civile e del terrorismo. Sarà anche proiettato un documentario a cura di Rijin Sahakian che affronta la vita d’alcuni giovani artisti che vivono oggi in Iraq.
Il Commissario è Ali Assaf, che partecipa anche come artista nel Padiglione; Co-Commissario è Vittorio Urbani; Curatrice è Mary Angela Schroth. Il Padiglione è organizzata da Nuova Icona (Venezia) e Sala 1 (Roma).
Il padiglione dell’Iraq è stato realizzato grazie a Shwan I. Taha e Reem Shather-Kubba / Patrons Committee, MerchantBridge Bank, e con il contributo di privati ed enti pubblici, di vari istituti governativi iracheni e il generoso supporto dell’Arab Fund for Arts and Culture.
Patrono Onorario è l’architetto Zaha Hadid.
info: www.pavilionofiraq.org



Questo è un periodo straordinario per l’Iraq. Il progetto di creare un padiglione ufficiale per la 54°edizione della Biennale di Venezia nasce da un incessante lavoro di squadra iniziato nel 2004. Avviene storicamente in un periodo di gran rinnovamento, dopo oltre 30 anni di guerre e di conflitti.
Il Padiglione dell’Iraq accoglierà sei artisti contemporanei iracheni di fama internazionale che si caratterizzano per una ricerca artistica sperimentale dovuta all’esperienza sia dentro che fuori il loro paese.
Questi artisti, dopo aver studiato arti visive a Baghdad, hanno completato il percorso artistico in Europa e negli Stati Uniti. Rappresentano due generazioni: la prima, nata nei primi anni ‘50, ha vissuto sia l’instabilità politica che la ricchezza culturale di quel periodo in Iraq. Ali Assaf, Azad Nanakeli e Walid Siti erano già attivi durante gli anni ‘70, nel periodo di creazione del socialismo politico che ha segnato la loro formazione. La seconda generazione, che include Adel Abidin, Ahmed Alsoudani e Halim Al Karim, è cresciuta durante il dramma della guerra Iran-Iraq (1980-1988), l’invasione del Kuwait, la schiacciante sanzione economica delle Nazioni Unite e il successivo isolamento artistico. Questi artisti, usciti dal paese prima dell’invasione del 2003, trovano rifugio in Europa e negli USA grazie anche ad un connubio di fortuna e capacità artistiche. Tutti i sei artisti hanno, dunque, un’identità forgiata da una pratica artistica contemporanea che congiunge la situazione globale alla particolare esperienza irachena e rappresentano un approccio sofisticato e sperimentale di portata internazionale.
I sei artisti eseguiranno opere in situ, ispirate sia agli spazi della Gervasuti Foundation che alla tematica dell’acqua. Questo è un argomento attuale in quanto la mancanza di un bene primario come l’acqua è una delle maggiori emergenze in Iraq, più della guerra civile e del terrorismo. Sarà anche proiettato un documentario a cura di Rijin Sahakian che affronta la vita d’alcuni giovani artisti che vivono oggi in Iraq.
Il padiglione dell’Iraq è stato realizzato grazie a Shwan I. Taha e Reem Shather-Kubba / Patrons Committee, MerchantBridge Bank, e con il contributo di privati ed enti pubblici, di varie istituti governativi iracheni e il generoso supporto dell’Arab Fund for Arts and Culture. Patrono Onorario è l’architetto Zaha Hadid.

Iraq's experimental contemporary artists have never had a chance to present their work for an Iraq Pavilion at the Biennale di Venezia; the first and last major appearance in 1976 outlined only some of their "modern" artists. The Iraq Pavilion for 2011 will indeed show the world an exciting professionally-curated selection of 6 Iraqi artists from two generations, including various artistic media (painting, performance, video, photography, sculpture/installation).
Ali Assaf, Commissioner for the Pavilion of Iraq 2011

Acqua Ferita / Wounded Water
Six Iraqi Artists interpret the theme of water

These are extraordinary times for Iraq. The project to create an official country Pavilion for the 54. Biennale di Venezia is a multiple and participatory work in progress since 2004. It is historically coming at a period of great renewal after more than 30 years of war and conflict in that country.
The Pavilion of Iraq will feature six internationally-known contemporary Iraqi artists who are emblematic in their individual experimental artistic research, a result of both living inside and outside their country. These artists, studying at the Fine Arts Academy in Baghdad, completed their arts studies in Europe and USA. They represent two generations: one, born in the early 1950’s, has experienced both the political instability and the cultural richness of that period in Iraq. Ali Assaf, Azad Nanakeli and Walid Siti came of age in the 1970’s during the period of the creation of political socialism that marked their background. The second generation, to include Adel Abidin, Ahmed Alsoudani and Halim Al Karim, grew up during the drama of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), the invasion of Kuwait, overwhelming UN economic sanctions and subsequent artistic isolation. This generation of artists exited the country before the 2003 invasion, finding refuge in Europe and USA by sheer fortune coupled with the artistic virtue of their work. All six artists thus have identities indubitably forged with contemporary artistic practice that unites the global situation with the Iraqi experience and they represent a sophisticated and experimental approach that is completely international in scope.
The six artists will execute works on site that are inspired by both the Gervasuti Foundation spaces and the thematic choice of water. This is a timely interpretation since the lack of water is a primary source of emergency in Iraq, more than civil war and terrorism. A special video section will feature artists living and working in Iraq today, curated by Rijin Sahakian.

Commissioner of the Pavilion is Ali Assaf, who is also participating artist. Co-Commissioner is Vittorio Urbani. The Pavilion is curated by Mary Angela Schroth. Nuova Icona (Venice) and Sala 1 (Rome) are responsible for the logistics and organization of the event.

The Pavilion of Iraq has been produced thanks to Shwan I. Taha and Reem Shather-Kubba /Patrons Committee, MerchantBridge Bank, corporate and individual contributors, various Iraqi government agencies and a major grant from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture.
Honorary Patron is the architect Zaha Hadid.
For info: www.pavilionofiraq.org

Artists:
Adel Abidin
Adel Abidin was born in 1973 in Baghdad, Iraq, where he studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts before moving to Helsinki, Finland in 2001 to pursue a MFA in new media, a degree he received in 2005. He is represented in major museum collections in Finland and is internationally recognized through numerous exhibitions, including the 2007 Venice Biennale, “On the Margins” at Kemper Art Museum, St Louis in 2009; and the 2008 Cairo Biennale. He has held solo exhibitions throughout the USA, Europe, Scandinavia and the Middle East. In 2010, Abidin’s work was the subject of a major solo exhibition at Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki and Apex Art, New York. In 2011 he will exhibit his work at the 10th Sharjah Biennale, and hold two major solo shows at the Anne De Villepoix gallery in Paris and the Darat Al Funun in Amman, Jordan.
Ahmed Alsoudani
Born in Baghdad in 1975. Graduated with an MFA (2008) from the Yale School of Art. Alsoudani currently lives and works in New York. He was a resident at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2006. He has been included in the Saatchi Gallery's "Unveiled: New Art from the Middle East" in London, in 2009 and a monograph on his work was published that same year by Hatje Cantz. He has recently been profiled in Der Spiegel, Art + Auction, and Canvas magazine. His work has been critically reviewed in London’s The Sunday Times and The Independent, Artnet among other publications. His work is in the collections of the Columbus Museum of Art, the Pinault Foundation, the Doha Museum in Qatar and private collections around the world.
Halim Al Karim
Born in 1963 in Najaf, Iraq. Lives and works in Denver, Colorado (USA). Has exhibited widely in the Middle East, Europe and USA, participating in 15 solo shows since 1991 in private galleries in Kuwait, Dubai, Beirut, Houston, Amsterdam, Amman, and Paris. Museum exhibitions include the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art in Colorado, the Princessehof Museum in Holland, Centre Culturel Français in Amman. Group exhibitions since 1993 include private galleries and institutions such as the Grand Palais Paris, XVA Gallery in Dubai, International Design Forum in Dubai, Sursock Museum in Beirut, Cairo Biennale, Musée des Métiers de Mercure in France, Salon des Arts Décoratifs in Beirut, National Museum in Amman, Centro Costa Salguero in Buenos Aires, Charles Saatchi Gallery in London and the Shoman Foundation, Amman.
Azad Nanakeli
Born in Arbil, Kurdistan, Iraq in 1951. Degree from the Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad, Iraq in 1975. Degree from the Academy of Fine Arts, Florence, Italy in 1979. Lives and works in Florence. Numerous exhibitions since 1973. A selected list includes “Visioni Irachena”, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 2010; ”The Berlin Wall, Media Art” at the Petro Marko Theater, Valona (Albania) 2010; “Planet-K”, 53° Venice Biennale in 2009; Istanbul Art Fair in 2008; “Poetronica”, Cinema Teatro Moderno, Lastra a Signa, (Florence) 2006; “Videodays 2”, Sala Santa Rita, Rome, 2004; “Tracce Fuoricentro live”, Livorno (Italia); “Videodays”, Cinema Alfieri Atelier, Florence, 2003; “Outlook”, National Museum, Crakow (Poland) in 2003; “Grenzenlos“ at the ,Museum Volkshalle im Wiener Rathaus, Vienna (Austria), 2002.
Walid Siti
Born in Duhok, Iraqi Kurdistan, graduated in 1976 from the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad and in1982 the Academy of Fine Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Works and lives in London.
Has exhibited internationally in the Netherlands, UK, Iraq, Poland, Austria, Russia, UAE, USA, Italy, Taiwan, Slovenia, Germany and Denmark. Recent exhibitions include “Silent Monuments”, Duhok Gallery (Iraq) in 2010; "Iraq's Past Speaks to the Present" at the British Museum, London 2008; Leighton House Museum, London in 2008; XVA Gallery, Dubai (UAE) in 2009, “Word into Art” at the British Museum and the I.F.C. in Dubai 2009; “Taswir” at Martin-Gropius-Bau Museum, Berlin in 2009. “Planet-K” at the 53. Venice Biennale in 2009; 10th Asian Art Biennale, Dhaka (Bangladesh) in 2003 and the 5th Sharjah International Arts Biennial, Sharjah (UAI) in 2001. His work is in many private and public collections including The British Museum, The Imperial War Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum (both in London), The National Gallery of Amman (Jordan), The Iraq Memory Foundation and the World Bank in Washington DC.
Ali Assaf Commissioner and Participating Artist
Ali Assaf was born in 1950 in Al Basrah (Iraq): He graduated in 1973 from the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad and in 1977 from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome where he has been living and working 1973. From the late 1960’s to the present he has participated in numerous one-person exhibitions and group projects both in Italy and abroad. He has been active as an artist-organizer for many international collective exhibitions and cultural events on various themes such as emigration, water resources, and the role of the artist in a multicultural context. Much of his recent work involves performance and video. He has participated in the 1989 Biennale of Alger (artist and jury member), the 2008 Cairo Biennale, the 2nd Gulf Film Festival in Dubai in 2009 and has won various prizes and honorary citations.

Vittorio Urbani, Co-Commissioner
Born in Ferrara, Italy, in 1954, he is an independent curator based in Venice; numerous exhibitions and publications since 1993 as founder and director of the non-profit organization “Nuova Icona”, dedicated to the realization of projects by contemporary international visual artists. Since 1995, the association has organized five editions of the national participation of Ireland in the Venice Art Biennale as well as the national participations of Wales (2001, 2003, 2007, 2009), Turkey (2001, 2003 and 2005), Scotland (2003), USA (2003), India (collateral exhibition in 2005), Finland (2005), Bulgaria (2008), Azerbaijan (2007 and 2009), Lebanon (2007), Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, 2009), and Palestine (2009).
Urbani has been visiting curator to various museums and arts organizations in Canada, Europe and the Middle East as well as acting as juror and curator for the “Perspectives” prize in Belfast and the “Kyoto Prize” as well as the Italian selections for the Second Quadrilateral Biennial, Rijeka, Croatia (2007), the Biennial of Caucasus “Art Caucasus”, Tbilisi, Georgia( 2007) and the Sinop Biennial Sinopole, Turkey (2006 and 2010).

Mary Angela Schroth, Curator
After work with CBS News in New York (1971-1976), transferred to Caen (France) where she created the artist space “Nouveau Mixage” with Joel Hubaut in 1980. Transferred to Rome in 1983 where she collaborated with various artistic institutions before becoming artistic director in 1985 of Sala 1, Italy’s oldest non profit art space, curating and financing numerous international projects and publications involving art, music, architecture, video, and performance, often the Italian debut for major artists as well as pioneering exhibits with Russia, Iran, Bangladesh. Co-produced the 1993 South African Pavilion for the Venice Biennale. Curated “Africa Comics” at the Studio Museum in Harlem (New York) in 2007; writes regularly on art for the review “Africa e Mediterraneo”. She is founder and president of the Fondazione Salvatore Meo, created in 2005 to preserve the legacy of this Italo-American pioneer of the art of assemblage. Her latest project involves the complete restoration of the Sistine decorative cycle of the Sanctuary of the Holy Steps in Rome together with the Getty Foundation and Vatican Museums.