About artist – Rushdi Anwar
Rushdi Anwar was born in Halabja, Kurdistan region, Iraq. His work reflects on the socio-political issues that continues to mire the geopolitics of West Asia (historically known as ‘The Middle East’). Drawing on his personal experiences of displacement, conflict and trauma endured under Iraq’s colonial and ideological regimes, Rushdi’s art references and generates discourse concerning the status of social equity—exploring its political, social and religious complexity via study of form and its materiality. Embracing installation, sculpture, painting, photography and video, his practice recalls the everyday plight of the thousands displaced currently suffering discrimination and persecution, questioning the possibility of redemption and collective necessity to attend with empathy as a social imperative.
Rushdi earned his PhD in Art from RMIT University, Melbourne and is currently Senior Lecturer, Painting Division, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. He has held solo and group exhibitions in Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Cuba, Finland, France, Japan, Kurdistan, Norway, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA and Vietnam. Anwar is one of six artists shortlisted for the Artes Mundi 10 Biennial Prize, Cardiff, UK, 2023; notable recent exhibitions include ‘Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present’, Sharjah, 2023; ‘Art in Conflict’, Australian War Memorial touring exhibition, various venues, Australia, 2022; ‘wHole’, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 2022; ‘Now’, Esta Gallery at The Culture Factory, Sulaymaniyah, 2022; ‘The Tides of the Century’, Ocean Flower Island Museum, Danzhou, 2021; ‘Escape Routes: Bangkok Art Biennale’, Bangkok, 2020. Rushdi currently lives between Chiang Mai, Melbourne and Sulaymaniyah.
(Bio provided by The Jim Thompson Art Center.)
Writings:
Rushid Anwar, Artforum, Vol. 62, No. 7., MARCH 2024.