BIOGRAPHY

Maysaloun Faraj is a London-based painter, ceramist, and sculptor with a BSc in Architecture. Born in the USA, she spent her formative years between Los Angeles, where she was born, Washington and New York (1955–1968) before moving to Baghdad in the 1970s, followed by settling in London in 1982, with intermittent periods in Paris, including residencies at the Al-Mansouria Foundation: Cité International des Arts in 2015/17/18.

These diverse cultural experiences profoundly shaped her artistic output. Her work is distinguished by an aesthetic informed by architectural discipline, creating a web of references that bridge East and West, ancient and contemporary, public and deeply personal. Often reflecting on themes of spirituality and the transience of human existence, Faraj employs a visual vocabulary rooted in vibrant colour and basic geometric forms, striving for harmony and order.

Beyond her art, Faraj has played a pivotal role in advancing modern art from the Middle East. She curated the first international showcase of contemporary and modern Iraqi art, which toured the UK and USA from 2000 to 2003. She is also the editor of the seminal publication Strokes of Genius: Contemporary Iraqi Art (Saqi Books, 2001). In 2002 she co-founded Aya Gallery in London with her husband, the renowned architect Ali Mousawi. The gallery operated until 2010 as a critical platform for promoting art from Iraq and the Middle East. In 2008, she served as a judge for the inaugural Arab Art and Culture Award in the UK.

“My art resonates and evolves in a fusion of East and West, tradition and modernity. The story I want to share is my challenge as an artist, a woman, a Muslim and an American-born Iraqi living outside the motherland.”

Her work is held in notable private and public collections worldwide, including Mathaf Modern (Doha Qatar), the British Museum, Rotterdam Wereld Museum, National Museum for Women in the Arts (USA), Jordan National Museum (Amman), Barjeel Art Foundation (UAE), Al-Mansouria Foundation (Paris), Aga Khan Foundation (Canada) and esteemed private collections including Hussain Ali Harba (Turin Italy), Ibrahimi and Ali Husri (Jordan), the late Basil al-Rahim (London), Hamad Abdulla & Nasser al-Khori (Houston & Doha) and important others.

Faraj’s contributions to the art world have established her as a key figure in the global narrative of Middle Eastern modern art. She continues to live and work in London, a city she has called home for over four decades.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024 Let Us Be Light Galerie Mark Hachem Paris

2024 Home • Shooting Stars and Wings almarkhiya gallery Doha, Qatar

2022 HOME Lockdown 2020-22 Galerie Mark Hachem Paris

2018 Shooting Stars: Baghdad A Paris Cité des Arts Paris

2009 Boats and Burdens: Kites and Shattered Dreams Ayagallery London

1995 Once Upon a Culture SOAS (School of Oriental & African Studies) London

1994 Oriental Delight Trocadero London

1992 Sisters in Harmony River Gardens London

1991 Faith Argile Gallery London

1990 Ya Rab Rochan Gallery Motcomb Street London

1989 Home Sweet Home Artists Studio Baghdad

1987 Nostalgia Artists Studio London

1985 Vibrations from my Past Espace 2000 Paris

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024 The, Sky Above Gaza... Imagined Doha Fire Station, almarkhiya gallery, Doha, Qatar

2023 Contemporary Istanbul with Mark Hachem Gallery 27 Sept - 1 Oct Istanbul, Turkey

- Menart Fair (Middle East & North Africa Art) with Mark Hachem Gallery, Belgium Brussels

2022 Artists’ Books, Poetry to Politics, British Museum, London UK

2022 Hidden UK, Hidden Ireland, curated by Sean Scully, Flowers Gallery, London UK

2020/21 Art in Isolation: Creativity in the Time of COVID-19 Middle East Institute,Washington USA

2018 Mapping the Art of the Arab World Selections Publishing, Dubai | Brussels

2016 Abu Dhabi Art Ayyam Gallery UAE

2015 Resident Artist Cité Internationale des Arts Paris France

2014 Get Acquainted Sharjah Calligraphy Biennial Sixth Edition UAE

2010 One Thousand and One Nights William Paterson University New Jersey USA

2009 The Recessionists British Art and Art from the Middle East Somerset UK

- Creativity vs Destruction: Stories of Iraqi Art Reel Iraq Roxy Art House Edinburgh Scotland

2008 Iraq's Past Speaks to the Present British Museum London

- Word into Art British Museum and DIFC Dubai UAE

2006 Occupied Space: Art for Palestine Palestine Solidarity & Qattan Foundation London

2004 Seed Body & Soul: Artists Against Depleted Uranium Earls Court London

2003 Cities of Iraq: Samarra to Baghdad (Islamic Culture in Focus) British Museum London

- Diversity in Harmony University of Michigan Dearborn USA

- Before After Now: Visions of Iraq Deluxe Gallery Hoxton Square London

2002 Islamic World Painting Biennial Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art Iran

- Calligraphy Beit al-Quran Manama Bahrain

- Master Strokes October Gallery London UK

2001 Contemporary Arab Art Wereldmuseum Rotterdam Netherlands

2000/3 Strokes of Genius: Contemporary Iraqi Art Tour UK & USA: Brunei Gallery SOAS London, Exeter University, Hotbath Galleries Bath, Grinnell College Iowa, DePaul
University Chicago

2000 Arab Cultures: Young Worlds British Museum London

1999 Artists for Human Rights Durban South Africa

- Dialogue of the Present Tour London Brighton and Brunell

1998 20th Anniversary of Egee Art Soni Gallery London

1997 Homage to Jewad Selim Kufa Gallery London

- Art in Hammersmith Riverside Studios London

- Breaking Down the Boundaries Pits Hanger Gallery London

1996 Eastern & Icelandic Art: William Morris Centenary Wimbledon Library London

1995 Arabian Eyes: Arab Women Art Bait al-Sirkal Ministry of Culture & Information Sharjah UAE

1994 Forces of Change: Artists from the Arab World National Museum for Women in the Arts: Tour Washington Chicago California

- Culture & Continuity Midlands Art Centre Birmingham

1992 Out of Iraq Camden Lock Market London