Doha: Qatar Museums (QM) today opens a major exhibition by internationally acclaimed Iraqi artist Dia Al Azzawi, titled ‘I am the cry, who will give voice to me? * Dia al-Azzawi: A Retrospective (from 1963 until tomorrow)’.
Taking place simultaneously at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art and the QM Gallery Al Riwaq for the first time, the exhibition will cover 9,000 square metres and include over 500 works. It will open today at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art and tomorrow at QM Gallery Al Riwaq, and run until April 16, 2017.
Presented by Qatar Museums under the leadership of its Chairperson, H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the exhibition is unprecedented in its scale and content, reflecting the long and distinguished career of Dia Al Azzawi.
Curated by Catherine David, Deputy Director at Centre Pompidou in Paris, the show examines the artist’s career, starting as an art student in Iraq in the 1960s. Works spanning fifty years across a range of media will be featured, including painting, sculpture, drawing, print and artist books, incorporating original and limited editions of artworks on view for the first time.
Abdellah Karroum, Director at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, said: “With Dia Al Azzawi’s retrospective, Mathaf is continuing the museum’s mission of revisiting art histories and narratives that redefine the region. The artist is also a witness of his time and in this case, his work is in many ways a response to political and social change. Al Azzawi was an integral part of cultural movements since the 1960s and still is today. The curatorial reading and concept of the exhibition by Catherine David is a great contribution to the development of art histories and curatorial dialogues globally. Through exhibitions such as this, we want to make art integral to daily life by bringing it to a wide range of local audiences and visitors to the country.”
