StadtLandKunst: BETWEEN RIVERS

TEXT: GALLERY HAFENLIEBE

The exhibition BETWEEN RIVERS, by the Iraqi artist Maurice Haddad, is currently being showcased in Forum StadtLandKunst in Hamburg’s HafenCity.

Between 24 March and 28 May, Hamburg’s Gallery Hafenliebe will showcase BETWEEN RIVERS by Maurice Haddad. Founded in 2011 in Hamburg’s HafenCity, the gallery is renowned for presenting internationally well-respected and expressive visual art of the 20th century and of the present.

In 2017, gallery owner Bernd Lahmann, who is a stone sculptor himself, discovered some works by the Iraqi artist Maurice Haddad (1939-2016) at a friend’s place in Hamburg. Since then, contact has been made with the artist’s daughter in Bangkok in Thailand, who has managed her father’s work for many years. Through this collaboration, BETWEEN RIVERS came bursting to life.

In his paintings, Maurice Haddad tells myriad stories. They are about anything from his rural home region between Euphrates and Tigris, to the Myth of Gilgamesh, women in Sumerian culture and abstract signs and letters. Born in 1937 in Iraq, he studied art in Baghdad and also in France’s Limoges. His deep commitment to the topic of peace could already be seen in his earlier paintings.

The artist’s work is presented and collected in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Denmark, UK, Russia, Japan, China and USA. One special painting can even be found in a room at the UN headquarters.

BETWEEN RIVERS is presented by Gallery Hafenliebe in Forum StadtLandKunst, near Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Am Sandtorpark 12. Open Friday to Sunday 12-6 pm and by appointment.