List of Iraqi artists

The following is a list of important artists, including visual arts, poets and musicians, who were born in Iraq, active in Iraq or whose body of work is primarily concerned with Iraqi themes or subject matter.

Note: This article uses Arabic naming customs: the name "al" (which means 'from a certain place') or "ibn" or "ben" (which means 'son of') are not used for alphabetical indexing. Artists are listed alphabetically by their paternal family name. For example, the Iraqi artist Hashem Muhammad al-Baghdadi, is listed under "B" for Baghdadi, the paternal family name while the artist Zigi Ben-Haim, is listed under "H" for Haim.

Contents: 

• Top
• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• Q
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• X
• Y
• Z

• See also

A

• Salman Abbas (b. 1945)[1]
• Faraj Abbo (1921-1984) artist, theatre director, designer, author and educator[2]
• Ibrahim Al-Abdali (b. 1965) [3]
• Adel Abidin (b. 1973) fi:Adel Abidin multi-media artist and painter
• Shinyar Abdullah 20th-century ceramicist [4]
• Firyal Al-Adhamy (also known as Ferial al-Althami) (b. 1950) hurufiyya artist, calligrapher
• Iyad Almosawi (b. 1955) Canadian-Iraqi artist [5]
• Asmaa al-Agha (b. ?) [6]
• Kajal Ahmad (b. 1967 Kirkuk) Kurdish-Iraqi poet [7]
• Mahmoud Ahmad (b.?) painter [8]
• Najiba Ahmad (b. 1954) poet
• Modhir Ahmed (born 1956), visual artist
• Ghani Alani (b. 1930 Baghdad) calligrapher [9]
• Sadik Kwaish Alfraji (b. Baghdad, 1960), multi-media artist, photographer, animator, video producer and installation artist [10]
• M.J. Alhabeeb (born 1954), calligrapher and painter
• Ayad Alkadhi (born 1971), visual artist
• Rheim Alkadhi (b. 1973) multidisciplinary artist
• Halim Alkarim (b. 1963) photographer [11]
• Sama Alshaibi (b. 1973) Media artist (video, photography) and installation artist
• Usama Alshaibi (b. 1969) visual media artist (video, photography)
• Jaber Alwan (b. 1948 Baghdad) Italian-Iraqi painter [12]
• Hamid al-Attar (b. 1935) (alternative: Hameed al Attar) painter [13]
• Jananne Al-Ani (b. 1966) Iraqi-Irish photographer and film-maker
• Latif al-Ani (b. 1932) photographer, known as the 'father of Iraqi photography' [14]
• Hassan Abd Alwan 20th-century painter [15]
• Sinan Antoon (b. 1967) poet [16]
• Mohamed Arif (1937-2009) [17]
• Layla Al-Attar (1944-1993), artist and painter
• Suad al-Attar (born 1942), painter [18]
• Basim al-Ansar 20th-century poet[19]
• Halla Ayla (born 1957), photographer, painter
• Abla al-Azzawi ceramicist [20]
• Apo Avedissian (b. 1990) filmmaker, painter, photographer, and writer
• Dia Azzawi (b. 1939) painter active in Iraq and London
• Fadhil Al Azzawi (born 1940), 20th century poet [21]
• Qasim al-Azzawi [22]
• Taleb Abd al-Aziz 20th-century poet [23]

B

• Fātima al-Baghdādī bt. Hasan b. ‘Alī b. ‘Abdullāh Attar (d. 480/1087) 11th-century calligrapher [24]
• Hashem Muhammad al-Baghdadi (1917-1973) calligrapher [25]
• Niazi Mawlawi Baghdadi - nineteenth century painter, decorator and calligrapher [26]
• Ahmed Al Bahrani (b. 1965) sculptor
• Abdul Jabar al-Banna (b. 1924) sculptor[27]
• Ala Bashir (born 1939), painter, sculptor and plastic surgeon[28]
• Salman Al Basri (born 1939) [29]
• Yahya Zaki Batat (b. 1958) poet, journalist, writer and painter [30]
• Ibn al-Bawwāb 10th/11th-century calligrapher [31]
• Abdul Waha al-Bayati (1926-1999) poet [32]
• Basil Al Bayati (b. 1946) architect and designer
• Azzam Al-Bazzaz (b. 1948 Mosul) sculptor [33]
• Wafaa Bilal (b. 1966), performance artist, author and educator

C

• Wasma'a Khalid Chorbachi (born 1944), Iraqi-American ceramist, calligrapher, painter
• Kamil Chadirji (1897-1968), photographer [34]
• Rifa'at Chadirchi (1926-2020) Iraqi architect (son of photographer, Kamil Chardirji)

D

• Rakan Dabdoub (1941-2017), painter [35]
• Issa Hanna Dabish (1919-2009) pioneer painter[36]
• Murad al-Daghistani (b. 1917 Mosul, Iraq - 1984) pioneering photographer[37]
• Sat'aar Darweesh [38]
• Salim al-Dabbagh (b. 1941) artist and print-maker [39]
• Bassem Hamad al-Dawiri (died 2007), sculptor and artist
• Samarkand Al Djabiri, 20th-century poet [40]
• Hafidh al-Droubi (1914-1991) (also given as Hafid or Hafez Drubi) (1914-1991) painter and educator [41]

E

• Enheduanna 23rd century BCE poetess, wrote on Cuneiform tablets
• Khalid Ezzat (b. circa 1937) sculptor[42]

F

• Mulla Muhammad 'Ali Al-Fadli (d. 1948) master calligrapher[43]
• Lisa Fattah (1941–1992), German-born painter, wife of Ismail Fatah al-Turk, active in Iraq
• Zaynab Shāhdā bt. Ahmad b. Al-Faraj b. ‘Omar Al-Abrī (d. 547/1178) 12th-century female calligrapher [44]
• Mayasalom Faraj (b. ?) US born of Iraqi parents [45]
• Fuzûlî (Muhammad bin Suleyman) 15th century poet
• Mun'im Furat (1900-1972) sculptor [46]
• Karim FARHAN ( 1958 ) SUISSE

G

• Ghassan Ghaib (or Gassan Ghaeb) (b. 1964) painter [47]

H

• Abdulameer Yousef Habeeb (b. ?) calligrapher
• Mohammed Saeed Al-Habboubi (1849- 1915) poet
• Murtadha Haddad (b. ?) sculptor [48]
• Zaha Hadid (1950-2016), Iraqi-British architect
• Assim Abdul Hafid (1886 - ?)[49]
• Bahija Al-Hakim (b. 1937) artist [50]
• Wihad al-Halem (b? ) [51]
• Dareh Hamassy (alternative: Dar Hama Si) (b. 1938) sculptor [52]
• Asim Hafez (1886- 1978) pioneer painter [53]
• Kadhim Hayder (alternatives: Kazem Haider, Kadhim Haydar) (1932- 1985), artist, poet, author, stage-set designer, educator [54]
• Ahli in Haidarkhana 19th-century photographer, active in Baghdad[55]
• Zigi Ben-Haim (b. 1945) sculptor and painter
• Mansur Al-Hallaj 9th century Sufi poet and mystic
• Mohammed Hussein al Hamdany 20th-century painter [56]
• Jamil Hamoudi, (1924-2003), sculptor, painter and author
• Choman Hardi (born 1974), poet, translator and painter
• Faeq Hassan (1914–1990), painter [57]
• Mohammed Ghani Hikmat (1929–2011), sculptor [58]
• Souhail al-Hindawy (b.1948) sculptor [59]
• Mohammed al-Husni (b.?) [60]

I

• Tarik Ibrahim 20th-century ceramicist[61]
• Ghareeb Iskander 20th-century poet [62]

J

• Sinan Jabar 20th-century poet [63]
• Jabra Ibrahim Jabra (1920-1994) painter, art historian, art critic and author
• Khalid al-Jader (1922-1988) painter, educator, art historian and author[64]
• Najar al-Jader (b.? ) [65]
• Mustafa Ja'far (b ?) painter and calligrapher [66]
• Omar al-Jaffal 20th-century poet and journalist [67]
• Sadik Jaffar painter [68]
• Furat al Jamil (b. 1965) - film-maker and sculptor [69]
• Ishtar Jamil (b.? ) [70]
• Tahir Jamil 20th-century photographer [71]
• Muhammad Mahdi Al-Jawahiri (1899–1997) poet
• Abdul Kader al-Janabi 20th century poet [72]
• Koutaiba Al Janabi (?-?) film-maker and photographer [73]
• Haky Jasim (b. 1958 Baghdad) [74]
• Fuad Jihad (b. 1946 Baghdad) painter and illustrator [75]
• Yahya Jawad (b. 1928 Baghdad) calligrapher [76]
• Amal al-Jubouri (b. 1967) poet
• Jamal Jumá poet
• Saleh al-Jumai'e (b. 1939) (alternative: Salih al-Jumaie) contemporary artist [77]

K

• Saadi Al Kaabi (b 1937) hurufiyya artist [78]
• Nida Kadhim (b. 1937) sculptor
• Sabreen Kadhim 20th-century power [79]
• Hayv Kahraman (born 1981) painter and sculptor
• Ismail al-Khaid (b. abt 1900) painter[80]
• David Kanikanian 20th-century ceramicist [81]
• Ittihad Karim (b.1940) sculptor [82]
• Halim al-Karim (b. 1963) painter [83]
• Jihad al-Kareem [84]
• Farouk Kaspaules (born ?) artist
• Hashim al-Khattat, "Hashim the Calligrapher," (1917-1973) calligrapher, considered as the last of the classical calligraphers
• Ismael Al Khaid (b. abt 1900) hurufiyya artist [85]
• Amer Khalil (b.1957) sculptor
• Sufyan al-Khazraji 20th-century photographer
• Rachel Khedoori (born 1964) Australian-born artist of Iraqi heritage (twin sister of Toba Khedoori)
• Toba Khedoori (born 1964), Australian-born artist of Iraqi heritage, known primarily for highly detailed mixed-media paintings (twin sister of Rachel Khedoori)
• Paulus Khofri (1923–2000), composer, lyricist and painter
• Akeel Korsheed (?-?) 21st century artist [86]
• Nedim Kufi (b. 1966), multi-disciplinary visual artist and graphic designer

M

• Muhammad Hasan Abi al-Mahasin poet
• Abdul Karim Mahmoud (1906-1986)[87]
• Mohammed Mahr al-Din (alternatives: Mohammed Muruddin, Mahommed Mahruddin) painter and calligrapher [88]
• Talib Makki [89]
• Mohamed Makiya (1914-2015) modernist architect and patron of the arts [90]
• Vartan Malakian (b. 1947) painter and artist
• Hanaa Malallah (b. 1958) painter
• Nazik al-Malaika (1923-2007) poet [91]
• Hassan Massoudy (b. 1944) painter and calligrapher
• Ahmed Matar (b. 1954) poet[92]
• Tariq Mazlum (b. 1933) [93]
• Mekki Hussein Mekki (b.1947) sculptor [94]
• Dunya Mikhail (b. 1965) poet
• Ghassan Muhsen (born 1945), artist, painter and ambassador
• Ibn Muqla (885/6–940) 10th-century calligrapher

N

• Hadi Al Najjar (b. 1957) photographer [95]
• Qassim Naji (1910-1985)[96]
• Rafa al-Nasiri (1940-2013) painter, print-maker, educator and author[97]
• Kutaiba Sheik Noori (b. ?) (alternative: Qutaiba Al Shaikh Nuri) doctor, calligrapher and painter [98]
• Muzaffar Al-Nawab (b. 1934) poet, critic and painter [99]
• Abū Nuwās al-Ḥasan ibn Hānī al-Ḥakamī 9th century Iraqi poet
• Farah Nosh (b ?) photographer and photo-journalist
• Qutaiba Shaikh Nouri (d. 1979) physician, artist, photographer [100]
• Salima Sultan Nur, 20th-century poet [101]
• Kadhim Nwir (b. 1967, Qadisiyah, Iraq) [102]

O

• Amer al-Obaidi (b. 1943)(alternative: Amer al-Ubeidi), painter [103]
• Mahmoud Obaidi (b. Baghdad 1966) painter, conceptual artist, sculptor, film-maker
• Madiha Omar (1908 – 2005) pioneer of the Hurufiyya movement
• Widad Al Orfali (b. 1929)[104]

P

• Fred Parhad (b. 1947) sculptor

Q

• Qais Al-Sindy (b. 1967), an Iraqi contemporary artist and painter.
• Ea'ad Abdul Qadir 20th-century poet[105]
• Nadwa Qaragholi (?-?) painter [106]
• Qahtan Alameen, an Iraqi contemporary artist and painter.

R

• Husain al-Radi (1924–1963), politician, poet, and painter
• Nuha al-Radi (1941-2004), diarist, ceramicist, painter[107]
• Khaled al-Rahal (1926-1987), sculptor and painter[108]
• Nadhim Ramzi (1928–2013) artist and graphic designer
• Roya Raouf (b.?) [109]
• Abdul Qadir Al Rassam (1882–1952), painter [110]
• Nuri al-Rawi (1925-2014) painter and sculptor [111]
• Wafaa Abed Al Razzaq (b. 1952) poet[112]
• Ahmed Abdul Razzaq (b. ?) painter[113]
• Kareem Risan (alternative: Karim Rissin) (b. 1960 Baghdad) [114]
• Shawkwat al-Rubaei (born 1940 Amara, Iraq) artist [115]

S

• Munir el-Saadawi (b. 1952) painter and print-maker, now residing in Spain [116]
• Miran al-Saadi (b. 1934) [117] sculptor
• Faisal al-Saadi (b. 1939) painter and sculptor [118]
• Issa Hannah Attar Sabri (1913-1987) painter [119]
• Mahmoud Sabri (1927-2012) (alternative: Mahommed Sabri Said) pioneering painter [120][121]
• Salam Atta Sabri (1913-1987) painter, educator and Director of the National Museum of Modern Art (Baghdad) [122]
• Salam Attar Sabri (b. 1953) (son of Atta Sabri) -ceramicist and artist [123]
• Jamil Sidqi al-Zahawi poet, educator and activist (1863–1936)
• Mahmoud Saeed 20th-century photographer [124]
• Ahmed Al Safi (born 1971), sculptor
• Faisal Laibi Sahi (b. 1947) painter and water-colourist [125]
• Shakir Hassan Al Said (1925–2004), painter, art historian, art critic, educator and prolific author [126]
• Dara Hana al-Said (b. 1946) sculptor [127]
• Issam al-Said (1938-1988) painter, print-maker, designer, etcher, architect, philosopher and author[128]
• Monkith Saaid (1958-2008) painter[129]
• Jawad Saleem (also given as Jawed Salim or Joad Salim) (1920–1961), sculptor
• Tamara Salman 20th century designer
• Hashim Samarchi (alternative: Hashem Samarji) (b. 1939) [130]
• Maheen al-Sarraf (b.? ) [131]
• Ghazi al-Saudi 20th-century painter [132]
• Siham al-Saudi 20th-century ceramicist [133]
• Adnan al-Sayegh 20th-century poet [134]
• Naoum al-Sayegh (father of the writer Yusuf al-Sayegh) 19th-century photographer and film-maker [135]
• Yusufal Sayegh (1934-2005) poet, novelist and painter[136]
• Lorna Selim (1928- 2012) artist and English-born wife of Jawad Saleem
• Rashad Selim (b. 1957 Sudan) artist, curator and art critic, a minor member of the Selim dynasty of artists [137]
• Zeid Saleh [138]
• Naziha Salim (1927–2008), artist and painter (sister of Jawad Saleem)
• Hajj Suad Salim (b. 1918) - painter and cartoonist, brother of Jawad Saleem[139]
• Mohammed Hajji Selim (1883-1941) painter, father of Suad Salim, Jawad Saleem, Naziha Salim and Nizarre Selim [140]
• Nazar Selim (1925-1983) painter and writer, brother of Jawad Saleem[141]
• Hassim Al-Samarchi (b. 193 ) painter [142]
• Ghazi Saudi[143]
• ʿAbdallāh Sayrafī 14th century calligrapher [144]
• Omar Al-Shahaby (b. 1983 Baghdad) [145]
• Badr Shakir al-Sayyab (1926-1964) poet
• Khudayer Shakarchi 20th-century artist [146]
• Ismail al-Shaikhly (1924-2002) [147]
• Khudayer al Shakarji (Bakouba 1937- 2006) painter [148]
• Bassim Al-Shaker (b. 1986, Baghdad, Iraq) - painter [149]
• Delair Shaker (b. 1971) painter[150]
• Mohammed Ali Shaker (b. ?) painter[151]
• Saad Shaker (1935-2005) painter [152]
• Andy Shallal (born 1969) artist and activist
• Badr Shakir al-Sayyab[153]
• Athir Shayota (b. 1968) painter [154]
• Sihan al-Saudi (b. ?) [155]
• Yusuf Senabel 19th-century photographer [156]
• Mohammed Al-Shammerey (b. 1962) multi-media artist [157]
• Ismail al-Sheikhly (1924-2002) painter [158]
• Naseer Shamma (b. 1963) musician and singer
• Walid Siti (b. 1954)[159]
• Akram Shukri (1910-1986) painter [160]
• Vian Sora (born 1976), painter
• Mahmodd Shubbar (b. 1965 Babel) [161]
• Akram Shukri (1910-1986) pioneer painter [162]
• Ahmad al-Suhrawardi 12th/13th century calligrapher [163]

T

• Abdul Karim Ibrahim Tiouti late 9th-century-early 20th-century photographer active in Basra, said to have introduced the camera to Iraq [164]
• Saad al-Ta'i [165] 20th-century painter
• Ali Talib (b. 1944), painter [166]
• Aatqall Taúaa (b. ?) sculptor and author
• Ismail Fatah Al Turk (1934–2004), painter and sculptor
• Hashim Al-Tawil (b. 1952) painter, print-maker and art historian[167]

U/V/W

• Abdelrahim Al-Wakil (b. ?) sculptor [168]
• Iman Al Waili 20th-century poet [169]
• Yahya Al-Wasiti, 13th century illustrator
• Khalil al Warid (c.1923-1984) sculptor

Y

• Nazar Yahya (b. 1963), Iraqi-American etcher, sculptor (in metal), installation artist and photographer
• Abdul Raheem Yassir (b. 1951, Qadisiyah, Iraq), cartoonist [170]
• Saadi Yousef (b. 1934, near Basra), poet, author and journalist[171]
• Najib Yunes (1930-2007)[172]
• Yaqut al-Musta'simi 13th-century calligrapher

Z

• Khalil al-Zahawi (1946-2007), calligrapher
• Muqbil Al-Zahawi (b. 1935), ceramicist[173][174]
• Hajj Salim Mohammed Saleh Zaki (1888-1974)[175]
• Haifa Zangana (born 1950), novelist, author and artist
• Abdulzahra Zeki [176]
• Hashim Zidan (b.?) sculptor [177]

See also

• Baghdad School
• Hurufiyya movement
• Iraqi art
• Islamic art
• Islamic architecture
• Islamic calligraphy
• List of Iraqi women artists

Major Iraqi public artworks

• Al-Shaheed Monument. Baghdad
• The Monument to the Unknown Soldier, Baghdad
• Victory Arch, Baghdad

References

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2. Mermier, F., Liban, espaces partagés et pratiques de rencontre, Vol. 1 of Les cahiers de l'IFPO, Institut français du Proche-Orient, 2008, p. 143
3. Inati, S.C. (ed.), Iraq: Its History, People, and Politics, Humanity Books, 2003, p. 73
4. Pocock, C., "The Reason for the Project: Art in Iraq Today", in: Azzawi, D. (ed.), Art in Iraq Today, Abu Dhabi, Skira and Meem, 2011, p. `101
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Further reading

• Benezit Dictionary of Asian Artists, Oxford University Press, 2017
• Bloom, J. and Blair, S.S. (eds), Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture, Vols 1–3, Oxford University Press, 2009
• Davis, B., "The Iraqi Century of Art," Artnet Magazine, July, 2008, Online
• Dougherty, B.K. and Ghareeb, E.A., Historical Dictionary of Iraq, Scarecrow Press, 2013
• Farhat, Maymanah, "Iraqi Artists in Exile," Selections magazine, no. 30, 2015 Online
• Hann, G., Dabrowska, K. and Greaves, T.T., Iraq: The Ancient Sites and Iraqi Kurdistan, Bradt Travel Guides, 2015, pp 29–32
• Jabra, I.J., The Grass Roots of Art in Iraq, Waisit Graphic and Publishing, 1983, Online:
• Khalil, S. and Makiya, K., The Monument: Art, Vulgarity, and Responsibility in Iraq; University of California Press, 1991
• Lindgren, A. and Ross, S., The Modernist World, Routledge, 2015
• Sabrah, S.A. and Ali, M., Iraqi Artwork Red List: A Partial List of the Artworks Missing from the National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq, 2010
• Salīm, N., Iraq: Contemporary Art, Volume 1, Sartec, 1977; Mathaf Encyclopedia of Modern Art and the Islamic World, Online:
• Shabout, N., "Ghosts of Futures Past: Iraqi Culture in a State of Suspension," in Denise Robinson, Through the Roadbloacks: Realities in Raw Motion, [Conference Reader], School of Fine Arts, Cyprus University, (23-25 November 2012), 2015
• Shabout, N., "The Preservation of Iraq's Modern Heritage in the Aftermath of the US Invasion of 2003," in: Elaine A. King and Gail Levin (eds), Ethics And the Visual Arts, New York, Allworth, 2006, pp 105 –120
• Tuohy, A. and Masters, C., A-Z Great Modern Artists, Hachette UK, 2015; Al-Ali, N. and Al-Najjar, D., We Are Iraqis: Aesthetics and Politics in a Time of War, Syracuse University Press, 2013;