Rafa Al-Nasiri

Born Tikrit, Iraq, 1940

Al-Nasiri studied painting at the Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad, 1956–9, and printmaking at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China, 1959–63. He won a scholarship from the Gulbenkian Foundation, at Gravura Lisbon, Portugal, 1967–9. Al-Nasiri worked in printmaking studios in Europe and the Middle East and taught in Baghdad, where he founded and became head of the Department of Graphic Art at the Institute of Fine Arts. Between 1974 and 1989 he was a member of the ‘New Vision’ group (see Dia al- Azzawi). A winner of several international prizes, including Salzburg 1974, Cannes-surmer 1977, Frederickstad 1978 and Baghdad 1986, al-Nasiri was also a jury member for international exhibitions in Europe and Cairo. He has participated in international exhibitions in London, 1980, Paris, 1982, Berlin, 1987, Frederickstad, 1995, and Cairo, 1997. His work was included in the exhibition Dafatir: Contemporary Iraqi Book Art, a travelling exhibition which opened at the University of North Texas, USA, in October 2005. Al- Nasiri lives and works in Amman, Jordan.