ArtDayME: Saleh Barakat Gallery in Beirut opens False Witnesses, a solo show by the influential Iraqi artist Dia al-Azzawi (b. 1939), whose iconic work is inspired by the long and shared history of the Arab world, from ancient Mesopotamia to the present day.

As the gallery notes: “Originally scheduled for October 2023, then rescheduled for September 2024, this exhibition is a biting critique of the corruption endemic to all political systems, seen through the prism of recent events in Iraq.

While the works directly address the October Revolution (2019–20), the destruction of Mosul (2014–17) and Aleppo (2012–16), as well as the sectarian divisions in Baghdad (2003 onwards), they are part of Azzawi’s larger and ongoing mission: to illuminate injustice in all its forms and to give voice, through his art, to the victims of oppression everywhere.”

The exhibition runs through 31 October 2025.

Video credit: Saleh Barakat Gallery