Boats and Burdens: Kites and Shattered Dreams

"For the woman of Iraq who despite burden upon unprecedented burden stand tall and resilient, like her precious date palms, nurturing like the sweet waters of Dijla and Furat. And for her children, who will reclaim the skies with their imagination and the future with their dreams."

This website was created to coincide with the exhibition Boats and Burdens: Kites and Shattered Dreams (2009) featuring a collection of paintings and sculptures by Maysaloun Faraj made in response to the war on Iraq.  In her catalogue introduction she writes "This is my fifteenth solo-exhibition to date.  My last was in 1995 just before I embarked on a life changing journey delving into the works of Iraq’s noteworthy artists; Strokes of Genius: Contemporary Iraqi Art, followed by the establishment of Aya Gallery which I co-founded in London with my husband the architect Ali Mousawi in 2002.  Having dedicated much of the past years promoting other artists art, I decided to finally focus on my own, a culmination of three decades of inspiration, creativity and intense artistic involvement.".  The exhibition was hosted at ayagallery and inaugurated by Dr Venetia Porter, curator of the Islamic and Modern Middle Eastern Art collections at the British Museum and curator of the touring exhibition Word into Art (British Museum 2006, DIFC Dubai 2008).  The catalogue features contributions by Sajid Rizvi, Dr Ulrike al-Khamis, HRH Dr Wijdan al-Hashemi and Rashad Selim.