Aziz Art October 2018

Through his involvement in this
group, he began to explore Arab
cultural history and mythology,
which became recurring themes in
his work.He continued his active
involvement in Iraq's arts
community by joining the group
known as the Baghdad Modern Art
Group, founded by the artist and
intellectual, Shakir Hassan Al Said,
in 1951, and later the New Vision
Group, for which he wrote the
manifesto, which was published in
a Baghdad newspaper in 1968.
During a turbulent political period
in Iraq, Azzawi served as a reservist
in the Iraq army between 1966
and 1973, where he witnessed
many atrocities. Through this
experience, he learned that he
needed to speak for those who
have no voice. A number of his
works are expressly designed to
give a voice to those who have
been silenced through war and
conflict.
He held the positions of Director
of the Iraqi Antiquities
Department in Baghdad (1968-76)
and Artistic Director of the Iraqi
Cultural Centre in London, where
he arranged a number of
exhibitions. He was the
inaugural editor of the magazine,
Ur (1978-1984) - a provactive new
journal published by the Iraqi
Cultural Centre in London.He was
also the editor of Funoon Arabiyyah
(1981-1982) and a member of the
editorial board of the scholarly
journal, Mawakif.
He was still living in Iraq when he
witnessed the demise of the
avantgarde art groups. At this time,
he became more actively involved
in the arts community. In 1968, he
founded the pivotal Iraqi art group,
Al-Ru’yah al-Jadida (New Vision)
and wrote its manifesto, Towards a
New Vision, which is co-signed by
Ismail Fatah Al Turk. Al-Ru’yah al-
Jadida represented a freer art style
which encouraged artists to remain
true to their own era., but also to
look to heritage and tradition for
inspiration. In this respect, it sought
to maintain the broad trends of the
prior art groups, such as the
Baghdad Modern Group, but at the
same time acknowledging that
artists were already developed a
more free style.