Baghdad Modern Art Group Reunited in Abu Dhabi Exhibition

The Baghdad Modern Art Group, founded in 1951, has been assembled again — this time in Abu Dhabi. Curator Dr. Nada Shabout's exhibition All Manner of Experiments: Legacies of the Baghdad Modern Art Group is on view at the NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery through January 3, 2027.

The group was established by two of Iraq's most influential artists: Jewad Selim (1919–1961) and Shakir Hassan Al Said (1925–2004). It grew to engage many of Iraq's leading artists, architects and poets. Together, they sought to develop a new art form — one that negotiated a time of globally inflected modernism from Baghdad, an Abbasid city founded in 762 CE that traces its lineage to the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia.

Why 1950s Baghdad mattered

The Kingdom of Iraq formed as an independent state in 1932. After Britain's maneuvering to dismantle the Ottoman Empire, a secularized, modern society was emerging. Iraqi artists questioned whether traditional "Islamic art" practices could present their contemporary realities, and they searched for a more effective visual language. Modern art provided a conduit for exploration. Iraqi artists perceived it as a global space of shared humanity.

Various artist groups launched initiatives to convey the importance of national representation through culture, including promoting the modern art movement in Iraq. This period set the stage for Iraq's so-called golden age of the 1950s — a time of maturation for a generation of artists pivotal in initiating rigorous standards of art theory and practice, charting new possibilities for future generations.

The group's experimental ethos still resonates. It continues to direct and connect contemporary Iraqi artists around the world to each other, beyond Baghdad itself.

Who is on the walls?

Shabout brings together the original circle and those its work influenced, at the time and in following generations, until today. The featured artists include:

• Faraj Abbo, Sadik Kwaish Alfraji, Himat Mohammad Ali, Rasoul Alwan, Suad al-Attar, Qahtan Awni, Dia al-Azzawi, Bogus Bablanian, Amar Dawod, Ghassan Ghaib
• Faiq (Faeq) Hassan, Mohammed Ghani Hikmat, Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, Rand Abdul Jabbar, Fouad Jihad, Saadi Al Kaabi, Ardash Kakafian, Salma Khoury, Hanaa Malallah, Mahmoud Obaidi
• Widad al-Orfali, Khalid al-Rahal, Kareem Risan, Miran al-Saadi, Mahmoud Sabri, Naziha Salim, Nizar (Nazar) Salim, Shakir Hassan Al Said, Delair Shaker, Jewad Selim, Lorna Selim
• Walid Siti, Ismail Fattah (Al-Turk), Madiha Umar, Khalil al-Ward, and Nazar Yahya

Works on view include Jewad Selim's Good and Evil, An Abstraction (1951), oil on canvas, 50 x 75 cm, from the Ramzi and Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation in Beirut. There is also Rand Abdul Jabbar's Earthly Wonders, Celestial Beings series (2024), glazed stoneware of variable dimensions, courtesy of the artist and Lawrie Shabibi. A 1951 photograph shows Selim reading a speech prepared for the opening of the group's first exhibition, from the Ibrahimi Collection, Baghdad–Amman.

Who is the curator?

Dr. Nada Shabout has published widely on modern and contemporary Arab and Iraqi art and has curated numerous exhibitions. She has joined NYU Abu Dhabi as a senior investigator at al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art and as a visiting professor of art history. She is also founding president of the Association for Modern and Contemporary Art from the Arab World, Iran, and Turkey (AMCA) and founding director of the Modern Art Iraq Archive (MAIA).

An exhibition doubling as an archive of influence is a rare thing. With a run lasting until January 2027, there's ample time to see how a 1951 Baghdad manifesto still travels.