Doha, October 25, 2026 : Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art has opened What Lingers in the Artist’s Mind, an exhibition examining more than seven decades of artistic innovation in Iraq through the legacy of the Baghdad Modern Art Group.
Running until February 6, 2027, the exhibition brings together artworks, archival materials and original research to explore the evolution of a distinct Iraqi artistic identity and the ideas that shaped modern art in the country.
Arranged across 17 thematic sections, the exhibition features paintings, sculptures, sketches, photographs and historical documents. The collection examines how Mesopotamian heritage, Islamic traditions and folklore intersected with contemporary life and international modernist movements to influence Iraqi artistic expression.
Established in 1951 by Jewad Selim and Shakir Hassan Al Said, the Baghdad Modern Art Group embraced modernism as a platform for experimentation. Its members drew inspiration from Iraq’s cultural and visual heritage while engaging with global artistic trends, exploring themes of identity, tradition and modernity that continue to influence artists today.
Drawing extensively on Mathaf’s significant collection of Iraqi art, the exhibition goes beyond a chronological account of the group. It examines changes in its membership, exhibitions, ideas and lasting influence, with works dating from the 1940s to the present day illustrating how successive generations have revisited and reinterpreted its artistic concerns.
The exhibition also explores how art history is documented and understood by placing archival fragments, photographs and curatorial research alongside artworks. It acknowledges missing works and gaps in historical records resulting from conflict and displacement, highlighting the ongoing process of discovering, interpreting and recovering Iraq’s artistic heritage.
Exhibition curator Nada Shabout, founding president of the Association for Modern and Contemporary Art from the Arab World, Iran and Turkiye, and founding director of the Modern Art Iraq Archive, said the exhibition does not seek to establish a definitive history of the Baghdad Modern Art Group.
Instead, it brings artworks into dialogue with sketches, photographs and archival material, including gaps in the historical record, to examine the ideas, relationships and circumstances that shaped the artists’ practices. She noted that recognising these gaps creates new opportunities to study and understand Iraqi modernism.
Presented as part of Qatar Museums’ Fall/Winter 2026 programme, the exhibition supports Qatar’s role as a meeting point for cultures, people and ideas, encouraging cultural discovery and exchange.
What Lingers in the Artist’s Mind is open to visitors at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art from October 25, 2026, to February 6, 2027.
Source: QNA
