Rand Abdul Jabbar

Rand Abdul Jabbar (b. Baghdad, 1990) borrows from and reconstructs the ephemera of place, history and memory, employing design, sculpture and installation as primary mediums of operation. Examining and engaging with historic, cultural and archaeological narratives, she interrogates the fragility of tangible heritage to create and compose forms that draw on artefacts, architecture and mythology. Simultaneously, she explores and contests with individual and collective memory to produce fragmentary reconstructions of historic events and past experiences. Her work has been exhibited at Shubbak Festival (UK), SAVVY Contemporary (Germany), Rabat Biennale (Morocco), Biennale d’Architecture d’Orléans (France), Louvre Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Art, Jameel Arts Centre, NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery, and 421 (UAE). She has also conducted art residencies with the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art (Singapore), 421, the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation and the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation (UAE). Abdul Jabbar received a Master of Architecture from Columbia University in 2014.

Basil Al-Rawi

Basil is an Irish-Iraqi multidisciplinary artist working with photography, moving images, and digital simulation. His practice is concerned with the landscapes of memory, identity, politics, and mediated reality. Remediation, reconstruction, intervention, and participation are central to his process. He explores the potential of recomposing archival material to form virtual bonds with the past and create expanded photographic moments.
 
Along with a degree in English and sociology, he is a cinematography graduate of the National Film School at IADT and holds an MA in Photographic Studies from the University of Westminster. He recently completed a practice-based PhD at The Glasgow School of Art, where he utilised participatory methods to explore the creative reconstruction of photographic moments and associated memories from Iraqi diaspora in VR. The crowd-sourced online platform Iraq Photo Archive and VR experience "House of Memory / بيت الذاكرة” were creative outcomes of the research. He has exhibited at IMMA, Rua Red, RHA, The Photographers Gallery, and the Institute of International Visual Arts, amongst others. He is the recipient of a Cork County Council Creative Arts Bursary and an Arts Council Art Participation Project Award for the creation of a new participatory work with the Iraqi diaspora in Ireland to be presented in 2023.

Sajjad Abbas

Sajjad Abbas (b. Baghdad, 1993) is a multidisciplinary artist and a 2014 graduate of the Department of Plastic Arts, Institute of Fine Art, Baghdad. Since 2011, Sajjad has implemented numerous graffiti and street art projects across Baghdad. Sajjad was a participant in Sada for Contemporary Iraqi Art from 2011-2014 and Sada [regroup] in 2022. Sajjad has worked on eight films, including two animated films, during his time at the Iraqi Independent Film Center, where he was also a student from 2011-2014. His 2014 animated film, 'Iraqi Superman,' won best animation short film at the Maremetraggio Film Festival in 2016. 

Iraqi American Reconciliation Project

Founded in 2007, the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP) is a nonprofit located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that builds bridges of communication, understanding, and support between Iraqis and Americans after decades of sanctions, war, and occupation.

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The Anderson Center Residency

 From the grounds of Tower View, a grand national registered historic landmark in the scenic Mississippi River town of Red Wing, Minnesota, the Anderson Center offers residencies in the arts & humanities and supports creativity & innovation at the intersection of art & ideas. andersoncenter.org 

The Anderson Center at Tower View's Artist Residency Program is an opportunity for artists at any career stage, working across all disciplines, and based anywhere in the world to advance their creative goals in a distinctive setting in close proximity to nature. The selected artist will receive live/work space, fellowship & exchange within a 5-artist cohort, chef-prepared meals, and more. Balancing a quiet retreat atmosphere and stimulating experiences with other artists, Anderson Center residencies on the expansive Tower View campus provide an ideal space for creative production.