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PUBLICATION

"Les enjeux de la représentation de l'art moderne en Irak à travers les catalogues d'exposition (1941-1958)"

Zouina Ait Slimani

in L'exposition à l'ouvrage : histoire, formes et enjeux du catalogue d'exposition, co-edited by Mica Gherghescu, Marie Gispert, Hélène Trespeuch and with the collaboration of Victor Claass, actes des journées d’étude des 11, 12 et 13 mai 2023, Galerie Colbert, Paris, 2025.

 

Modern Iraqi art history, though underexplored, is illuminated through exhibition catalogs that reveal the complex process of constructing a national artistic identity. These documents showcase the emergence of a modern artistic lexicon, highlight international artistic exchanges (such as the influence of Polish soldier-painters in Baghdad in 1943), and demonstrate how art served as a critical dialogue between national identity and global artistic currents. The catalogs also trace the artist's evolving role from pioneering creator to a transformative social figure within a dynamic political and cultural landscape.