Artwork by Faiq Hassan
Doha, Qatar: Qatar Museums (QM), the nation’s preeminent institution for art and culture, today announced details about ‘What Lingers in the Artist Mind: Experiments and Legacies of the Baghdad Modern Art Group’, a major exhibition at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art exploring the history, legacy, and enduring relevance of this pivotal collective. The exhibition will be on view October 25, 2026 through February 6, 2027.
Drawing extensively from Mathaf’s internationally renowned collections, the exhibition will bring together paintings, sculptures, sketches, photographs, archival materials, and original research to illuminate one of the Arab world’s defining artistic movements, and the group’s lasting influence on generations of artists in Iraq and across the wider region. Organised into 17 thematic sections spanning the 1940s to the present day, ‘What Lingers in the Artist Mind’ offers new perspectives on how the movement emerged, evolved, and continues to shape artistic discourse.
Among the exhibition highlights are works by leading figures of Iraqi modern art, including Jewad Selim, Shakir Hassan Al Said, Mohammed Ghani Hikmat, Naziha Selim, Lorna Selim, Faraj Abbo, Faiq Hassan, Khalid Al Rahal, Kadhim Haidar, and Dia Al Azzawi. Key works on view include Jewad Selim’s Baghdadiat (1956), Children’s Games (1953), and a 1959 preparatory sketch for Baghdad’s landmark Freedom Monument, presented alongside Mohammed Ghani Hikmat’s bronze maquette for the monument.
