Dia Azzawi (1939) Born in Baghdad, Iraq.
After earning a degree in Archaeology from Baghdad University in 1962, Azzawi pursued a bachelor’s degree from the Baghdad Institute of Fine Arts in 1964. He was a member of the New Vision Group in Baghdad, which included Rafi al- Nasiri, Mohammed Muhriddin, Ismail Fattah, Hachem al-Samarchi and Saleh al-Jumaie. A very versatile and prolific artist, Azzawi’s work includes paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings and books, most of which juxtapose text and image. He initiated a series of books within which contemporary Iraqi artists have had the opportunity to document their daily lives and emotions. Azzawi worked in the Iraqi Antiquities Department in Baghdad between 1968 and 1976. He was the Art Adviser to the Iraqi Cultural Centre in London from 1977 until 1980. Additionally, he was editor-in-chief of UR Magazine, London between 1978 and 1984 and art director in Funoun Arabbiya Magazine, London during 1981-2. He also served on the editorial board of Jusour Magazine, Washington DC in 1992.
Widely exhibited around the world, Azzawi is a pivotal figure in the history of Iraqi and Arab art. His work is found in world public and private collections ,like Institut du Monde Arabe (Paris), British Museum (London) ,Victoria and Albert Museum (London) ,Gulbejian Collection(Barcelona), Una Foundation(Morocco), Museum of Contemporary Arab arts, (Doha). Azzawi actively supports young Iraqi artists through exhibitions around the world. He has contributed numerous articles on Iraqi and Arab art. He has lived and worked in London since 1976.
His fascination for Mesopotamian civilisation and arts is profoundly present in his works. Moreover, Azzawi fuses traditional symbols of ancient Iraq, Arab Islamic art and calligraphy, with western notions of abstractions. For Azzawi, painting and poetry became inseparable. This expressive synthesis of words, painting and light is the foundation of Azzawi’s exceptional originality.