Ruya Foundation

Last updated

The Ruya Foundation, or Ruya Foundation for Contemporary Culture in Iraq, is an Iraqi registered not-for-profit, non-governmental organization. Founded in 2012, Ruya Foundation's board is made up of Tamara Chalabi (chair), Reem Shather-Kubba, and Shwan Ibrahim Taha.

Contents

Exhibitions

Ruya Foundation's exhibition programme comprises work by Iraqi artists in a variety of media: sculpture, painting, installation, video and photography. The organisation does not have a permanent collection, but a revolving exhibition programme onsite at its Ruya Shop location on Mutanabbi Street, Baghdad.

DateExhibitionArtists
2013Welcome to Iraq, curated by Jonathan Watkins [1] Abdul Raheem Yassir (b. 1951), Akeel Khreef (b. 1979), Ali Samiaa (b. 1980), Bassim Al-Shaker (b. 1986), Cheeman Ismaeel (b. 1966), Furat al Jamil (b. 1965), Hareth Alhomaam (b. 1987), Jamal Penjweny (b. 1981), Kadhim Nwir (b. 1967), Yaseen Wami (b. 1973), Hashim Taeeh [2] [3]
2015Invisible Beauty, curated by Philippe Van Cauteren [4] Latif al-Ani, Akam Shex Hadi, Rabab Ghazoul, Salam Atta Sabri and Haider Jabbar. [5] [6]
2017Archaic, curated by Tamara Chalabi and Paolo ColomboSherko Abbas, Sadik Kwaish Alfraji, Francis Alÿs, Ali Arkady, Luary Fadhil, Shakir Hassan Al Said, Nadine Hattom, Jawad Saleem, Sakar Sleman [7] [8]
2019Fatherland: Serwan Baran, curated by Tamara Chalabi and Paolo ColomboSerwan Baran (b. 1968) [9]

Projects

Ruya Foundation maintains a database of Iraqi artists. [10]

The Foundation has published Ruya Notebooks since 2017. A monograph on the work of Iraqi photographer Latif al-Ani which they co-published won the Historical Book Award at Les Rencontres d’Arles in 2017. [11]

RUYA MAPS

In 2018, Ruya Foundation launched a sister organisation, RUYA MAPS. The UK registered charity was established to address specific needs, identified by the Ruya Foundation whilst carrying out its unique work in Iraq, that were found to be applicable internationally. [12] It is led by Tamara Chalabi and has a programme of exhibitions, commissions and publications. [13] RUYA MAPS hosted Venezuelan artist Pepe López's first solo in the UK, Crisálida, at Fitzrovia Chapel in 2017. [14] They held an unofficial collateral exhibition at the 58th Venice Biennale, 'Heartbreak,' which featured artists from areas of conflict around the Mediterranean. [15] [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venice Biennale</span> International arts exhibition

The Venice Biennale is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of its kind. The main exhibition held in Castello, in the halls of the Arsenale and Biennale Gardens, alternates between art and architecture. The other events hosted by the Foundation—spanning theatre, music, and dance—are held annually in various parts of Venice, whereas the Venice Film Festival takes place at the Lido.

Francis Alÿs is a Belgian-born, Mexico-based artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joana Vasconcelos</span> Portuguese artist (born 1971)

Joana Vasconcelos is a Portuguese artist known for her large-scale installations.

Füsun Onur is a Turkish artist, based in Istanbul. She uses everyday materials in her painting and sculpture to reflect on space, time, rhythm and form.

The 56th Venice Biennale was an international contemporary art exhibition held between May and November 2015. The Venice Biennale takes place biennially in Venice, Italy. Artistic director Okwui Enwezor curated its central exhibition, "All The World's Futures".

The 57th Venice Biennale was an international contemporary art exhibition held between May and November 2017. The Venice Biennale takes place biennially in Venice, Italy. Artistic director Christine Macel, the chief curator at the Centre Pompidou, curated its central exhibition, "Viva Arte Viva", as a series of interconnected pavilions designed to reflect art's capacity for expanding humanism. The curator also organized a project, "Unpacking My Library", based on a Walter Benjamin essay, to list artists' favorite books. Macel was the first French director since 1995 and the fourth woman to direct the Biennale. A trend of presenting overlooked, rediscovered, or "emerging dead artists" was a theme of the 57th Biennale.

Frame Contemporary Art Finland is a foundation whose mission is to promote Finnish contemporary art internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angolan pavilion</span> Venice Biennale national pavilion

The Angolan pavilion, representing the nation of Angola, has participated in the Venice Biennale since 2013. As one of the biennial international art exhibition's national pavilions, Angola mounts a show in a Venetian palazzo outside Venice's Giardini. The first Angolan pavilion, which featured the photography of Edson Chagas, became the first African national pavilion to receive the biennial's top prize, the Golden Lion for best national pavilion. Chagas displayed poster-sized photographs of resituated, abandoned objects and weathered architecture in the Angolan capital of Luanda. Reviewers praised the interplay between the photographed subject matter and the Italian Renaissance artwork that adorned the hosting palazzo's walls. The 2015 Biennale hosted a group show of five Angolan artists on themes of intergenerational dialogue.

Adenrele Sonariwo is a Nigerian entrepreneur and art curator. She is the founder of the Rele Art Gallery on Military Street, Onikan, Lagos Island, Lagos, Nigeria as well as the Rele Art Gallery on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, California. Rele Gallery is the first African contemporary art gallery to establish an outpost in Los Angeles. Sonariwo was the lead curator of the first Nigerian pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017. Alongside the Rele Art Gallery, Sonariwo is also the founding director of the Rele Arts Foundation. The foundation's projects include the annual young Contemporaries programme, which offers grants, mentorship, residences and training to a small group of emerging artists, an opportunity that results in an exhibition hosted at the gallery.

The American pavilion is a national pavilion of the Venice Biennale. It houses the United States' official representation during the Biennale.

The 58th Venice Biennale was an international contemporary art exhibition held between May and November 2019. The Venice Biennale takes place biennially in Venice, Italy. Artistic director Ralph Rugoff curated its central exhibition, May You Live in Interesting Times, and 90 countries contributed national pavilions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latif al-Ani</span> Iraqi photographer (1932–2021)

Latif al-Ani was an Iraqi photographer, often known as "the father of Iraqi photography" and noted for his photographic works that combine both ancient and modern themes. During his active career from the 1950s through to the late 1970s, he chronicled an Iraqi way of life that was rapidly being lost as the country embarked on a modernization program. He documented people, ancient monuments and many facets of urban life in Iraq. He stopped taking photographs following the rise of Saddam Hussein, as he was unable to maintain his former optimistic outlook for Iraq's future.

Sadik Kwaish Alfraji is an Iraqi multi-media artist, photographer, animator, video producer and installation artist noted for producing "existentialist" works with dark, shadowy figures that speak of human frailty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National pavilions at the Venice Biennale</span> National representation at the Venice Biennale

The national pavilions host each participant nation's official representation during the Venice Biennale, an international art biennial exhibition held in Venice, Italy. Some countries own pavilion buildings in the Giardini della Biennale while others rent buildings throughout the city, but each country controls its own selection process and production costs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian pavilion</span>

The Canadian pavilion houses Canada's national representation during the Venice Biennale arts festivals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israeli pavilion</span>

The Israeli pavilion houses Israel's national representation during the Venice Biennale arts festivals. Jewish Israeli artists first participated in the 24th Venice Biennale in the Erez Israel, Artisti Palestinesi pavilion. Israel first participated in the 25th Venice Biennale in 1950.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finnish pavilion</span>

The Finnish pavilion houses Finland's national representation during the Venice Biennale arts festivals.

Ghana Freedom was a Ghanaian art exhibition at the 2019 Venice Biennale, an international contemporary art biennial in which countries represent themselves through self-organizing national pavilions. The country's debut pavilion, also known as the Ghana pavilion, was highly anticipated and named a highlight of the overall Biennale by multiple journalists. The six participating artists—Felicia Abban, John Akomfrah, El Anatsui, Selasi Awusi Sosu, Ibrahim Mahama, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye—represented a range of artist age, gender, locations, and prestige, selected by curator Nana Oforiatta Ayim. The show paired young and old artists across sculpture, filmmaking, and portraiture, and emphasized common threads across postcolonial Ghanaian culture in both its current inhabitants and the diaspora. Almost all of the art was commissioned specifically for the pavilion. Architect David Adjaye designed the pavilion with rusty red walls of imported soil to reflect the cylindrical, earthen dwellings of the Gurunsi within the Biennale's Arsenale exhibition space. The project was supported by the Ghana Ministry of Tourism and advised by former Biennale curator Okwui Enwezor. After the show's run, May–November 2019, works from the exhibition were set to display in Accra, Ghana's capital.

The 59th Venice Biennale was an international contemporary art exhibition held between April and November 2022, having been delayed a year due to the COVID pandemic. The Venice Biennale takes place biennially in Venice, Italy. Artistic director Cecilia Alemani curated its central exhibition.

The 60th Venice Biennale is an international contemporary art exhibition held between April and November 2024. The Venice Biennale takes place every two years in Venice, Italy, with some limited exceptions. Artistic director Adriano Pedrosa curated its central exhibition, Foreigners Everywhere, and 88 countries contributed national pavilions.

References

  1. ↑ "Announcement: 11 Iraqi artists selected for Pavilion of Iraq at 55th Venice Biennale". Ruyafoundation.org. March 21, 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  2. ↑ Higgins, Charlotte (2013-05-29). "Venice Biennale: Iraq's art world emerges from the ruins". The Guardian. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  3. ↑ Harris, Gareth (2013-05-24). "The view from Iraq". Financial Times . Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  4. ↑ "Philippe Van Cauteren to curate Iraq Pavilion at Venice / ArtReview". Artreview.com. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  5. ↑ Dagen, Philippe (May 11, 2015). "Irak, Arménie : la mémoire des désastres à Venise". Le Monde . Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  6. ↑ "What to see at the Venice Biennale". Apollo-magazine.com. May 2, 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  7. ↑ Cotter, Holland (May 22, 2017). "Venice Biennale: Whose Reflection Do You See?". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ "The Ruya Foundation Announces It's [sic] Lineup of Artists for The 57th Venice Biennale". Harpersbazaararabia.com. Archived from the original on 2020-08-10. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  9. ↑ Lucarelli, Niccolò (May 13, 2019). "Il Medio Oriente alla Biennale di Venezia in 5 progetti". Artribune.com. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  10. ↑ "New Database Connects Contemporary Iraqi Artists to the Rest of the World". Hyperallergic.com. April 14, 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  11. ↑ "Latif Al Ani: chronicler of modernity in a now vanished Iraq". Thenational.ae. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  12. ↑ "New Ruya Maps Initiative Shines Light on Artists Working in Conflict Zones". Frieze.com. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  13. ↑ "The Woman Behind Iraq's Pavilion in Venice Launches a New Initiative to Champion Artists From Conflict Zones". News.artnet.com. July 18, 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  14. ↑ "Pepe López: 'When it comes to exile, we keep all memories in the same place in the heart'". Studio International . 2018-11-12.
  15. ↑ "The Art Newspaper's pick of the 2019 Venice Biennale". The Art Newspaper. 2019-04-30. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  16. ↑ "Heartbreak". e-flux .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.