Qatar Museums has announced an upcoming exhibition at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art that will explore the history and impact of the Baghdad Modern Art Group, a key artistic collective in the Arab world. Titled “What Lingers in the Artist Mind: Experiments and Legacies of the Baghdad Modern Art Group,” the exhibition is scheduled to run from October 25, 2026, to February 6, 2027.
The exhibition draws extensively on Mathaf’s collections to present a comprehensive overview of the group’s work and its lasting influence on Iraqi and regional art. It will feature a diverse range of materials, including paintings, sculptures, sketches, photographs, archival documents, and original research, organized into 17 thematic sections spanning from the 1940s to the present day. These sections aim to provide new insights into the group’s formation, evolution, and continuing role in shaping artistic discourse.
Founded in 1951 by artists Jewad Selim and Shakir Hassan al-Said, the Baghdad Modern Art Group sought to create a distinctive Iraqi artistic language by combining elements of Mesopotamian heritage, Islamic traditions, and international modernist approaches. The exhibition showcases both the group’s artistic output and the broader cultural and intellectual context that defined its mission.
Zeina Arida, director of Mathaf, described the exhibition as a multifaceted tribute to one of the most influential movements in Arab modernism, underlining the museum’s commitment to scholarly engagement with regional art. Curator Nada Shabout, an art historian who is also founding president of the Association for Modern and Contemporary Art from the Arab World, Iran, and Turkey, emphasized the exhibition’s focus on the ideas and cultural debates that shaped the group, highlighting themes of identity, heritage, and modernity that remain relevant today.
Key works on view include Jewad Selim’s Baghdadiat (1956), Children’s Games (1953), and a 1959 preparatory sketch for Baghdad’s Freedom Monument, alongside Mohammed Ghani Hikmat’s bronze maquette for the same monument. Other notable pieces include Shakir Hassan al-Said’s One Thousand and One Nights series (1955) and The Great Symbol (1999), Naziha Selim’s Woman with a Bird (1975), Lorna Selim’s Iraqi Shanasihl (1965), and Faraj Abbo’s Al-Mashta (1964). The exhibition also highlights the contributions of artists such as Khalid al-Rahal, Kadhim Haidar, and Dia al-Azzawi.
In conjunction with the exhibition, Mathaf will host a symposium on December 3, 2026, in partnership with VCUarts Qatar. The event will explore the group’s formation, aesthetics, challenges, and legacy, as well as its influence on succeeding generations of artists. The symposium aims to deepen understanding of the Baghdad Modern Art Group’s place within Iraqi art history and the broader context of global modernism.
“What Lingers in the Artist Mind” is part of the Qatar Creates Fall/Winter 2026-27 season, a series of cultural initiatives that reflect Qatar’s dedication to fostering cultural exchange, creative dialogue, and international artistic connections.