Qatar Museums (QM) will open a major exhibition by internationally acclaimed Iraqi artist Dia al-Azzawi in Doha today.
Taking place simultaneously at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art and QM Gallery Al Riwaq for the first time, the exhibition will cover 9,000sqm and include over 500 works.
The exhibition, titled “I am the cry, who will give voice to me? Dia al-Azzawi: A Retrospective (from 1963 until tomorrow)”, opens at Mathaf today and at QM Gallery Al Riwaq tomorrow. It will run until April 16, 2017.
Presented by Qatar Museums under the leadership of its chairperson, HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the exhibition is “unprecedented in its scale and content, reflecting the long and distinguished career of al-Azzawi”, QM has said in a press statement.
Curated by Catherine David, deputy director at Centre Pompidou in Paris, the show examines the artist’s career, starting as an art student in Iraq in the 1960s.
Works spanning 50 years across a range of media will be featured, including painting, sculpture, drawing, print and artist books, incorporating original and limited editions of artworks on view for the first time.
Abdellah Karroum, director of Mathaf, said: “With Dia al-Azzawi’s retrospective, Mathaf is continuing the museum’s mission of revisiting art histories and narratives that redefine the region.”
Spanning two venues across Doha, the retrospective aims to map an itinerary of modernism and profiles the practice of the Iraqi artist.
The retrospective is organised in two parts, with each tracing a trajectory of the artist’s practice. As part of the exhibition, collectors’ items inspired by al-Azzawi’s collection will be on sale in QM retail outlets across Qatar.  Saleh Al Hamad Al Mana Co is the official sponsor of the exhibition. For more information on the exhibition, visit http://www.qm.org.qa/en