Dia Azzawi

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Dia Al-Azzawi
Azzawi, 26 May 2015
Born1939 (age 84–85)
Baghdad, Iraq
NationalityIraqi
EducationCollege of Arts, Baghdad (archaeology);
Known forPainter, sculptor and author
MovementHurufiyya movement
SpouseShashten Finstrom
WebsiteAzzawiart.com

Dia Al-Azzawi (Arabic: ضياء العزاوي) is an Iraqi painter and sculptor, now living and working in London, and one of the pioneers of modern Arab art. He is noted for incorporating Arabic script into his paintings. Active in the arts community, he founded the Iraqi art group known as New Vision and has been an inspiration to a generation of young, calligraffiti artists.

Life and career[edit]

Dia al-Azzawi was born in al-Fadhil, an old traditional neighbourhood in Baghdad, in 1939.[1] His father was a grocer in the city centre. Azzawi was the third of ten children in the family.[2]

Azzawi studied archaeology at the College of Arts in Baghdad, graduating in 1962 and later studied at the Institute of Fine Arts, under the guidance of the eminent Iraqi artist, Hafidh al-Droubi, and graduating in 1964.[3] By day, he studied the ancient world, and by night he studied European painting. Azzawi explains, "This contrast meant that I was working with European principles but at the same time using my heritage as part of my work."[4] His exposure to archaeology would influence him greatly as an artist, and he drew inspiration from the ancient myths of Gilgamesh and Imam Hussein, a revered Muslim figure. Azzawi then continued to study art at the Institute of Fine Art, graduating in 1964.[5]

In the 1950s, Azzawi began working with Iraqi artist, Faeq Hassan, who was involved with the Baghdadi arts group called “the Pioneers.” This group aimed to locate a continuity between traditional and contemporary Iraqi art. During this period, he began to develop his own aesthetic, and was inspired by dramatic moments in Iraq's history.[6]

While enrolled at art school, he joined the local art group, known as the Impressionists, founded by his professor, Hafidh al-Droubi in 1953. While Azzawi was not particularly drawn to impressionism as a style, the group encouraged artists to experiment with different styles, and also to pursue local themes as subject matter. Through his involvement in this group, he began to explore Arab cultural history and mythology, which became recurring themes in his work.[7] He continued his active involvement in Iraq's arts community by joining the group known as the Baghdad Modern Art Group, founded by the artist and intellectual, Shakir Hassan Al Said, in 1951, and later the New Vision Group, for which he wrote the manifesto, which was published in a Baghdad newspaper in 1968.[8]

During a turbulent political period in Iraq, Azzawi served as a reservist in the Iraq army between 1966 and 1973, where he witnessed many atrocities. Through this experience, he learned that he needed to speak for those who have no voice.[9] A number of his works are expressly designed to give a voice to those who have been silenced through war and conflict.[citation needed]

He held the positions of Director of the Iraqi Antiquities Department in Baghdad (1968–76) and Artistic Director of the Iraqi Cultural Centre in London, where he arranged a number of exhibitions.[10] He was the inaugural editor of the magazine, Ur (1978-1984) - a provactive new journal published by the Iraqi Cultural Centre in London.[11] He was also the editor of Funoon Arabiyyah (1981-1982) and a member of the editorial board of the scholarly journal, Mawakif.[12]

He was still living in Iraq when he witnessed the demise of the avantgarde art groups. At this time, he became more actively involved in the arts community. In 1968, he founded the pivotal Iraqi art group, Al-Ru’yah al-Jadida (New Vision) and wrote its manifesto, Towards a New Vision, which is co-signed by Ismail Fatah Al Turk.[13] Al-Ru’yah al-Jadida represented a freer art style which encouraged artists to remain true to their own era., but also to look to heritage and tradition for inspiration. In this respect, it sought to maintain the broad trends of the prior art groups, such as the Baghdad Modern Group, but at the same time acknowledging that artists were already developed a more free style.[14] This group promoted the idea of freedom of creativity within a framework of heritage.[15] He was also a member of the group One Dimension founded by Shakir Hassan Al Said, which rejected the earlier modern Arab art movement as being too concerned with European techniques and aesthetics.[16]

In the late 1970s, after Iraq fell under the control of Saddam Hussein, Azzawi left his home country and settled in London where he met his first wife, the Swedish-born Shashten Finstrom, who worked at the Patrick Seale Gallery, where Azzawi had his first solo British exhibition in 1978.[17]

Azzawi now spends his time living and working in both London and Dubai. In 1991, Azzawi fell into a state of despair when his saw the destruction to his native Iraq due to the Gulf War. He shut himself away in his home for several months, concentrating on his art and producing a series of works, including the Balad Al Sawad [Country of Blackness] series of "violently drawn images of terrified, crying and screaming faces, haunting images of despair."[18]

He is one of the pioneers of the modern Arab art world, with a special interest in the combination of Arabic traditions, including calligraphy, into modern art compositions.[19][20][21][22]

In 2021, Tamayouz Excellence Award launched a prize named the Dia al-Azzawi Prize for Public Art, the recipient of the inaugural prize was the graffiti of Al-Tahrir tunnel in Baghdad by the Tishreen uprising Artists.[23]

Works[edit]

A Wolf Howls: Memories of a Poet (1968), by Dia Azzawi at the Barjeel Art Foundation collection

Azzawi was part of the generation of people that saw their countries and homelands fall to bloody dictatorships and wars, and so much of his work is a commentary on the destruction and devastation of Iraq due to war and invasion. His piece, My Broken Dream , a colossal monochromatic work, four meters in height and ten in length, is an assemblage of shapes, limps and swords, and it is an attempt to document a peoples pain, and in the written statement of the artwork, he writes, “Iraq is my inner soul." In addition, Azzawi does not only give voice to his own plight, but to those who are silenced as well, including that of Palestine and Iraqi Kurdistan. One example, The Land of Sad Oranges, is a set of black and white drawings consisting of faceless heads and limp bodies, based on the short story of the same name by Palestinian writer, Ghassan Kanafani. Azzawi was inspired to draw this set after Kanafani, a close friend of his, was murdered in 1972 by the Mossad[24] and in these drawings, he tries to explore the condition of statelessness and particularly the effect it has on the individual. In an interview with Saphora Smith for the Telegraph in 2016, Azzawi said, “I feel I am a witness. If I can give a voice to somebody who has no voice, that is what I should do,” and with this work he tries to document the inner struggle of refugees and explore themes of exile and displacement.[25]

The art historian, Nada Shabout, has classified Dia Azzawi's work as belonging to the School of Calligraphic Art (also known as the Hurufiyya movement) using a style termed calligraphic combinations,[26] which means that he combines abstract, freeform and classical styles.[27]

His works are held in prestigious art galleries, art museums and public collections including in both the West and the Middle East: Vienna Public Collection; British Museum, London; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Gulbenkian Collection, Barcelona; The World Bank, Washington D.C.; Library of Congress, Washington D.C.; Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris; Museum of Modern Art, Paris; Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; Pier Gardin Collection, Paris; Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad; Museum of Modern Art, Damascus; Museum of Modern Art, Tunis; Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; Adel Mandil Collection, Riyadh; The Saudi Bank, London; Jeddah International Airport, Saudi Arabia; Riyadh International Airport, Saudi Arabia; The United Bank of Kuwait, London; Development Fund, Kuwait, Una Foundation, Morocco; Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman; and the British Airways Collection, London.[citation needed]

A number of his works, formerly held in the Iraq National Museum of Modern Art, were subject to the looting that occurred in 2003 following the US invasion of Iraq. At least one of these, The Lost City, rated as one of the top 100 missing works, has since been repatriated. The stolen artworks have been involved in controversy within art circles. A private Iraqi seller, offered The Lost City, for sale with a $50,000 price tag, to a gallery in 2011, in spite of the fact that it was listed by Interpol as a stolen artwork. With the assistance of the gallery, US Embassy in Baghdad, Interpol and the FBI, the work was eventually recovered and returned to the rightful owner, the Iraq National Museum of Modern Art.[28]

He has promoted Arabic art and culture through both his writing and his art. He has published some fourteen books, numerous articles and has edited art magazines. He was the Art Director of the International Magazine of Arab Culture, between 1978 and 1984.

Gallery[edit]

Select list of artworks

  • Demonstration, oil on canvas, 1953 (now in the Al-Ruwad Collection, Baghdad)[29]
  • Story from One Thousand and One Nights, ink on paper, 1962[30]
  • And Morning Reached Shahrazad, ink on paper, 1962
  • Tragedy at Kabala, ink on paper, 1964[31]
  • Testimony of Our Times, 1972
  • The Land of Sad Oranges, 1973
  • Introduction to the Seven Golden Orbs, silkscreen, 1978[31]
  • Al-Jawahiri Verses, 50 X60cm, 1989[31]
  • The Crane, hand-coloured lithograph, 1990[31]
  • Balad Al Sawad [country of blackness] series of nine charcoal drawings on paper, c. 1991[32]
  • The Mulallaqast Pre-Islamic Pottery, etching, 50 X 70 cm, date unknown[33]
  • Sabra and Chatila Massacre 2012-2013 (now in the Tate Modern Gallery)

Exhibitions[edit]

Selected Individual Exhibitions

2016

2014

"I am the cry, who will give voice to me?" Dia al-Azzawi: A Retrospective (from 1963 until tomorrow), Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar

Massacres et Joie de vivre, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France

____ Selected Works, 1964 - 1973, Frieze Masters, London, United Kingdom
2013 Bilad al-Sawad and other works, Art Paris Art Fair, Grand Palais, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
____ An Itinerary 3. Painting and Poetry, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2012 An Itinerary. 1. Paintings on canvas and wood (1963 - 2011), Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France
____ An Itinerary. 2. Gouaches on paper (1976 - 2006), Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
____ Meem Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2011 Abu Dhabi Art Fair, Meem Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2010 Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
____ Abu Dhabi Art Fair, Meem Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2009 Sixth Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Festival, Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
____ Meem Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
____ Retrospective, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2006 Kalemmat Gallery, Aleppo, Syria
____ 4 Walls Gallery, Amman, Jordan
____ Dar al-Funoon Gallery, Kuwait
____ Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2005 Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2004 Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
____ St-Art – Strasbourg's Art Fair, represented by Galerie Claude Lemand, Strasbourg, France
2003 Palestine and Mahmoud Darwish, Cité du Livre, Aix-en-Provence, France
2001 Retrospective, Institut de Monde Arabe, Paris, France
1996 Art Center, Bahrain
1995 Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
1994 Al-Manar Gallery, Casablanca, Morocco
____ Al-Wasiti Gallery, Casablanca, Morocco
____ Galerie d'Art 50 x 70, Beirut, Lebanon
____ Al-Sayed Gallery, Damascus, Syria
1993 Asilah Festival, Asilah, Morocco
____ Flandria Gallery, Tanger, Morocco
1992 Alif Gallery, Washington, D.C., United States of America
____ Gallerie Hittite, Toronto, Canada
1991 Galerie D'art 50 x 70, Beirut, Lebanon
____ Galerie des Arts, Tunis, Tunisia
1990 Alif Gallery, Washington, D.C., United States of America
____ Galleri Nakita, Stockholm, Sweden
____ Vanazff Gallery, Gothenburg, Sweden
____ Galerie des Art, Tunis, Tunisia
1988 Galerie Claudine Planque, Lausanne, Switzerland
1986 Galerie Faris, Paris, France
____ Royal Cultural Centre, Amman, Jordan
1984 Alif Gallery, Washington, D.C., United States of America
1983 National Council for Art and Culture, Kuwait
1980 Galerie Faris, Paris, France
____ Galerie Centrale, Geneva, Switzerland
1979 Al-Riwaq Gallery, Baghdad, Iraq
1978 Patrick Seale Gallery, London, United Kingdom
1977 Sultan Gallery, Kuwait
1976 Galerie Nadhar, Casablanca, Morocco
1975 National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
1974 Sultan Gallery, Kuwait
____ Contact Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
1973 Raslan Gallery, Tripoli, Lebanon
1971 National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
____ Sultan Gallery, Kuwait
1969 National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
____ Sultan Gallery, Kuwait
____ Gallery One, Beirut, Lebanon
1968 National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
1967 Hall of the Iraqi Artists Society, Baghdad, Iraq
1966 Gallery One, Beirut, Lebanon
1965 Al-Wasiti Gallery, Baghdad, Iraq

Selected Group Exhibitions

2015 Picasso in Contemporary Art, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany
2014 Arab Modernities, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France
____ Post-Picasso: Contemporary Reactions, Picasso Museum, Barcelona, Spain
____ Art Paris Art Fair, Grand Palais, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
____ Landscape and Arab Modernity, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2013 D'Orient et d'Occident, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
____ Tajreed (Abstract Arab Art), Contemporary Arab Platform (CAP), Kuwait
2012 Fan al-Mahjar, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France
____ Masters of the Tondo, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2011 Art in Iraq Today: Part IV, Meem Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
____ Mashreq-Maghreb: Paintings, Sculptures and Prints, Contemporary Arab Platform (CAP), Kuwait
____ Art in Iraq Today: Conclusion, Meem Gallery and Solidere, Beirut, Lebanon
2010 Interventions, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar
2009 Modernism and Iraq, Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, United States if America
2008 Word into Art, British Museum, Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), Dubai, United Arab Emirates
____ Iraq's Past Speaks to the Present, British Museum, London, United Kingdom
____ Iraqi Artists in Exile, Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, Texas United States of America
2006 Portraits of the Bird, Bastia Festival of Arts, Paris, France
____ Word into Art, British Museum, London, United Kingdom
2005 Portraits of the Bird. Books and Drawings, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
____ Contemporary Iraqi Book Art, University of North Texas Art Gallery, Denton, Texas, United States of America
____ Improvisation: Seven Iraqi Artists, Bissan Gallery, Doha, Al-Riwaq Gallery, Manama, 4 Walls Gallery, Amman
____ Hommage to Shafic Abboud, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2004 Art Books and Paintings, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
2003 Colas Foundation, Boulogne, France
____ Broken Letter, Contemporary Art from Arab Countries, Kunsthalle Darmstadt, Germany
2002 Masters of the Tondo, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
____ The Kinda Foundation Collection, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
2001 Machreq-Maghreb: Paintings and Books, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France
1998 Al-Azzawi and Nasiri, Galerie La Teinturerie, Paris, France
1997 Five Visual Interpretations, Green Art Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
1989 Contemporary Art from the Islamic World, Barbican Centre, London, United Kingdom
____ Arab Graphic Art, National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL), Kuwait
1988 Olympiad of Art, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea
____ Al-Azzawi, al-Jumaie, Nasiri, Kufa Gallery, London, United Kingdom
1987 Third International Print Biennal, Taiwan
1986 Semitic Museum, Harvard University, Massachusetts, United States of America
____ Contemporary Arab Art, The Mall Gallery, London, United Kingdom
1985 Musée Hubert d'Uckerman, Grenoble, France
1984 British International Print Biennial, Bradford, United Kingdom
____ First Arab Contemporary Exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, Tunis, Tunisia
1983 Contemporary Arab Artists Part 3, Iraqi Cultural Centre, London, United Kingdom
1981 Salon de Mai, Paris, France
____ Art 12'81, Galerie Faris, Basel, Switzerland
____ Foire Internationale D'Art Contemporain (FIAC), Galerie Faris, Paris, France
____ Seventh International Grafik Triennial, Frechen, Germany
1980 Third World Biennial of Graphic Art, Iraqi Cultural Centre, London and National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
____ The Influence of Arabic Calligraphy on Modern Arab Art, Iraqi Cultural Centre, London, United Kingdom
____ Seventh International Exhibition of Drawing, Rijeka, Croatia
____ Twelve Contemporary Arab Artists, Galerie Faris, Paris, France
____ Salon de Mai, Paris, France
____ Foire Internationale D'Art Contemporain (FIAC), Galerie Faris, Paris, France
____ Salon d'Automne, Espace Cardin, Paris, France
1979 São Paulo Biennial, Brazil
____ The Baghdad International Poster Exhibition, Iraqi Cultural Centre, London and National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
____ Three Iraqi Artists, al-Riwaq Gallery, Baghdad, Iraq
1978 Contemporary Arab Graphic Art, Iraqi Cultural Centre, London, United Kingdom
____ Seven Iraqi Artists, Iraqi Cultural Centre, London, United Kingdom
____ International Exhibition of Art for Palestine, Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon
1977 Contemporary Iraqi Art, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait
____ Six Iraqi Artists, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
____ Contemporary Iraqi Art (III), Bonn, Paris, London, Tunis
1976 Second Arab Art Biennial, Rabat, Morocco
____ Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy
____ Contemporary Iraqi Art, Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris, France
____ The Fifth International Exhibition of Drawings, Rijeka, Yugoslavia
____ International Association of Art: Artists against Racism, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
1975 Iraqi Graphic Art Exhibition, Iraqi Cultural Centre, Beirut, Lebanon
____ Seventh International Painting Festival, Cagnes-sur-Mer, France
____ International Summer Academy, Salzburg, Austria
____ Collective Graphic Art Exhibition, L'Atelier Gallery, Rabat, Morocco
____ Collective Graphic Art Exhibition, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
1974 Seven Iraqi Artists, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
1973 Six Syrian and Iraqi Artists, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad and Arab Cultural Centre, Damascus, Syria
1972 Four Iraqi Artists, National Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
____ Three Iraqi Artists, Gallery One, Beirut, Lebanon
____ Iraqi Contemporary Art Today, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
____ Five Iraqi Artists, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
____ Fourth International Poster Biennial, Warsaw, Poland
____ Contemporary Arab Art, Nicosia, Cyprus
1971 Four Iraqi Artists, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
____ Contemporary Iraqi Art, Kuwait
____ Contemporary Iraqi Art, Mirbad Poetry Festival, Basra, Iraq
1970 The Iraqi Poster Exhibition, Baghdad, Iraq
1968 First International Triennial, New Delhi, India
____ Seventh Annual Exhibition of the Impressionist Group, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
1966 Carreras Craven "A" Arab Art Exhibition, traveling exhibition, Cairo, Manama, Kuwait, Baghdad, Amman, Damascus, Beirut, London, Paris, Rome
1965 Eighth Annual Exhibition of the Iraqi Artists' Society, National Gallery of Modern Art, Baghdad, Iraq
____ Fifth Annual Exhibition of the Impressionists Group, Hall of the Iraqi Artists' Society, Baghdad, Iraq
____ Contemporary Iraqi Art, Gallery One, Beirut, Lebanon
____ Contemporary Iraqi Art, traveling exhibition, Rome, Budapest, Vienna, Madrid, London, Beirut
1964 Seventh Annual Exhibition of the Iraqi Artists' Society, Baghdad, Iraq

Public collections[edit]

  • Tate Modern, London
  • Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art
  • Sharjah Art Museum, UAE
  • Barjeel Foundation, UAE

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

  • Dia Azzawi at Art Iraq - digital resource maintained by Iraqi artists with reproductions of major modern artworks, many of which were stolen or damaged in the 2003 invasion, and are not accessible via any other reliable public source

References[edit]

  1. ^ Shabout, N., "Dia Azzawi: Ballads to Bilad al-Swad," Contemporary Practices Art Journal, Vol. 16, p.42 Online:
  2. ^ Smith, Saphora (2016-10-17). "Befriended by a king, arrested, then forced to fight... Artist Dia Azzawi on the destruction of his beloved Iraq". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  3. ^ Shabout, N.M., Modern Arab Art: Formation of Arab Aesthetics, University of Florida Press, 2007, p. 121
  4. ^ Smith, Saphora (2016-10-17). "Befriended by a king, arrested, then forced to fight... Artist Dia Azzawi on the destruction of his beloved Iraq". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  5. ^ "Dia al-Azzawi". www.encyclopedia.mathaf.org.qa. Retrieved 2017-12-16.
  6. ^ Smith, Saphora (2016-10-17). "Befriended by a king, arrested, then forced to fight... Artist Dia Azzawi on the destruction of his beloved Iraq". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  7. ^ Shabout, N.M., Modern Arab Art: Formation of Arab Aesthetics, University of Florida Press, 2007, p. 123; Shabout, N., "Dia Azzawi: Ballads to Bilad al-Swad," Contemporary Practices Art Journal, Vol. 16, pp 42-49
  8. ^ Shabout, N., "Dia Azzawi: Ballads to Bilad al-Swad," Contemporary Practices Art Journal, Vol. 16, p. 49
  9. ^ Smith, Saphora (2016-10-17). "Befriended by a king, arrested, then forced to fight... Artist Dia Azzawi on the destruction of his beloved Iraq". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  10. ^ Al-Bahloly, S., "Dia al-Azzawi," [Biography], Mathaf Encyclopedia of Modern Art and the Arab World, Online:
  11. ^ Naef, S., "Not Just for Art's Sake: Exhibiting Iraqi Art in the West after 2003," in: Bocco Riccardo, Bozarslan Hamit and Sluglett Peter (eds), Writing The Modern History Of Iraq: Historiographical And Political Challenges, World Scientific, 2012, p. 478; note that the journal, Ur was later replaced by Gilgamesh which was published in Iraq.
  12. ^ Al-Bahloly, S., "Dia al-Azzawi," [Biography], Mathaf Encyclopedia of Modern Art and the Arab World, Online:
  13. ^ Asfahani, R., "10 Contemporary Artists From Iraq You Should Know," Culture Trip, 24 October 2016, Online:
  14. ^ Salīm, N., Iraq: Contemporary Art, Volume 1, Sartec, 1977, p. 7
  15. ^ 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, pp 7-9
  16. ^ "Dia Azzawi." [Biographical Notes], Barjeel Foundation, Online: http://www.barjeelartfoundation.org/artist/iraq/dia-azzawi/
  17. ^ Smith, Saphora (2016-10-17). "Befriended by a king, arrested, then forced to fight... Artist Dia Azzawi on the destruction of his beloved Iraq". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  18. ^ Dabrowska, K., "Modern Iraqi Art: Discourse with the Past and a Vision of the Future," The Middle East, Volume/issue: no. 339, 2003, Excerpt online:
  19. ^ "Dia Al-Azzawi: A Retrospective (from 1963 until tomorrow)". qm.org.qa. Archived from the original on 6 May 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  20. ^ "Dia Azzawi - Barjeel Art Foundation". barjeelartfoundation.org. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  21. ^ "5 Middle Eastern Modern & Contemporary artists you need to knowabout - Christie's'". christies.com. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  22. ^ "TateShots: Dia Al-Azzawi - Tate". tate.org.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  23. ^ tamayouz (2022-11-21). "Tishreen Uprising's artworks win the inaugural Dia al-Azzawi Prize for Public Art in the Arab World". Tamayouz Excellence Award. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  24. ^ Lemelle, Sidney J.; Kelley, Robin D. G. (1994). Imagining Home: Class, Culture, and Nationalism in the African Diaspora. Verso. ISBN 9780860915850.
  25. ^ Smith, Saphora (2016-10-17). "Befriended by a king, arrested, then forced to fight... Artist Dia Azzawi on the destruction of his beloved Iraq". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2017-12-16.
  26. ^ Shabout, N.M., Modern Arab Art: Formation of Arab Aesthetics, University of Florida Press, 2007, p. 88
  27. ^ Ali, W., Modern Islamic Art: Development and Continuity, University of Florida Press, 1997, pp 167-68
  28. ^ Pocock, C., "Art of the Middle East: Issues, Contemporary Art Practices Journal, Vol. X, 2012, pp 54-61, Online:
  29. ^ Shabout, N.M., Modern Arab Art: Formation of Arab Aesthetics, University of Florida Press, 2007, colour plates between p. 100
  30. ^ Shabout, N.M., Modern Arab Art: Formation of Arab Aesthetics, University of Florida Press, 2007, colour plates between p. 101
  31. ^ a b c d Shabout, N.M., Modern Arab Art: Formation of Arab Aesthetics, University of Florida Press, 2007, colour plates between p. 110 and 111
  32. ^ Dabrowska, K., "Modern Iraqi Art: Discourse with the Past and a Vision of the Future," The Middle East, Volume/issue: no. 339, 2003, Excerpt online:
  33. ^ Ali, W., Modern Islamic Art: Development and Continuity, University of Florida Press, 1997, p. 178