18 Facts About Dia Azzawi

Dia Azzawi is one of the pioneers of modern Arab art and is noted for incorporating Arabic script into his paintings.

Dia Azzawi's father was a grocer in the city centre.

Dia 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.

Dia Azzawi then continued to study art at the Institute of Fine Art, graduating in 1964.

Dia Azzawi 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.

Dia Azzawi held the positions of Director of the Iraqi Antiquities Department in Baghdad and Artistic Director of the Iraqi Cultural Centre in London, where he arranged a number of exhibitions.

Dia Azzawi was the inaugural editor of the magazine, Ur - a provocative new journal published by the Iraqi Cultural Centre in London.

Dia Azzawi was the editor of Funoon Arabiyyah and a member of the editorial board of the scholarly journal, Mawakif.

Dia Azzawi was still living in Iraq when he witnessed the demise of the avantgarde art groups.

Dia Azzawi was 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.

Dia Azzawi now spends his time living and working in both London and Dubai.

In 1991, Dia Azzawi fell into a state of despair when his saw the destruction to his native Iraq due to the Gulf War.

Dia Azzawi 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.

Dia 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.

Dia Azzawi was inspired to draw this set after Kanafani, a close friend of his, was murdered in 1972 by the Mossad and in these drawings, he tries to explore the condition of statelessness and particularly the effect it has on the individual.

Dia Azzawi has promoted Arabic art and culture through both his writing and his art.

Dia Azzawi has published some fourteen books, numerous articles and has edited art magazines.

Dia Azzawi was the Art Director of the International Magazine of Arab Culture, between 1978 and 1984.