Shakir Hassan Al-Said

Born Samawa, Iraq, 1925 (d.2004)

Al-Said graduated in social sciences from the Higher Institute of Teachers, Baghdad, 1948, and in art from the Institute of Fine Arts, 1954. He was taught art history by the artist Jewad Selim, and with him co-founded the ‘Baghdad Modern Art’ group, 1951. Between 1955 and 1959, after obtaining a scholarship, al-Said studied in Paris at the Académie Julien, the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs and the Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. He then returned to Baghdad, where he taught art history at the Institute of Fine Arts, 1970–80, and began his writings on art, including the Contemplative Art Manifesto, 1966. By 1971, following the theoretical framework he had developed, al-Said formed the ‘One Dimension’ group, which focused on the exploration of the different values of the Arabic script – graphic, plastic, linguistic and symbolic – in modern art. Al-Said received several awards and his work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide.