The 12th edition of the annual Lasting Impressions exhibition series is being held now by Sharjah Art Museum. It is dedicated to the art of Ismail Khaya, famous Iraqi-Kurdish artist. The exhibition will last several more days till 27 November 2022.
Lasting Impressions is a unique art event, which takes place in the emirate of Sharjah in the UAE annually. It shows works of prominent artists of the region, highlighting their contribution to the art movement. They tend to focus on renowned Arab artists, who left a lasting impression on the development of modern art in the Arab world.
This year the exhibition showcases the outstanding work of Ismail Khayat, who draws his inspiration from the region’s landscape, its heritage and culture and has a unique style. He is an icon in the Kurdish art circle, who stood at the foundation of the Kurdistan Iraqi Art Movement.
Ismail Khayat’s works are not complex but multilayered. The subjects of his art are his childhood memories of nature around his home, images of fish, birds, wild animals and Kurdish men and women. His art invites viewers to explore the varied meanings and messages he has embedded in his unique pieces. The symbolic Tree of Life, architecture, traditional elements and also war and genocide are the subject of his paintings. Many of his works are created in a naive style; birds and fish find much space in his art. For Khayat they are metaphors for freedom and the fragility of life.
Khayat’s art portfolio, the works of more than six decades, includes over 4,000 paintings and more than 3,000 stone paintings. His art works were created in very different techniques: oil, charcoal, watercolour, ink, fabric and more. A variety of masks featured at the exhibition were in homage to his wife Gaziza Omer’s career on the stage.
To get more information, please visit the official webpage of the exhibition.
You might also like “The invisible enemy should not exist” by artist Michael Rakowitz and the Proposals for a Memorial to Partition exhibition.
