ArtDayME: Discover 14 artworks from the Barjeel art collection in “All Manner of Experiments: Legacies of the Baghdad Modern Art Group” at the Hessel Museum of Art, Bard College, NY.

This cross-generational exhibition is the first in the U.S. to highlight a key chapter in Arab modern and contemporary art, featuring works from 1963 to 2023. It traces the legacy of Baghdad’s Modern Art Group, a pioneering collective founded in 1951 that aimed to create modern Iraqi art deeply rooted in the country’s ancient heritage.

The exhibition repositions Iraq as a vital site of cultural innovation and resistance, reclaiming its impact on modern art history.

Photos credit: Olympia Shannon