Newsletter No. 252
April 26, 2006

 

HANI MAZHAR’S SECOND JAPAN TOUR

The London-based contemporary Iraqi artist Hani Mazhar will be making his second Japan tour in May and June. His first tour was in September 2002.

An exhibition of his paintings and political cartoons are expected to be shown at two locations as follows:

May 15th to May 26th
Gallery Konrin
1-2-12-E-101 Nishi-Azabu
Minato-ku, Tokyo
03-3796-7793
http://hw001.gate01.com/konrin/index.html (Japanese only)

June 2nd to June 15th
Z Platz Museum
4-26-28 Katakasu
Hakata-ku, Fukuoka
092-482-3656

Hani was born in Samawa in 1955 and is a graduate of Baghdad University of Fine Arts. His solo exhibitions have been held in London, Kuwait, Madrid, Aleppo, and Beirut. His political cartoons are also quite well known, as they have frequently appeared in the Arabic-language press.

The reason why Hani has returned to Japan is due to the efforts of art promoter Astrid de los Rios (Shingetsu Member No. 20). Her MonteAlto Art organization has, for several years, been working on a project called “East to East,” which aims to create a dynamic cultural interchange between Japan, the Arab world, and the Hispanic world. They maintain a website at the following address:

http://www.montealtoart.com

On the same site, there are examples of some of Hani’s paintings as well:

http://www.montealtoart.com/ingles/hani.html

Here in Japan, we don’t have many opportunities to view contemporary art from the Islamic world, especially solo exhibitions like this one. The cost of transporting such artwork to Japan is prohibitive in most cases. I hope that Shingetsu members in Japan will make an effort to patronize this exhibition in hopes that we can see more like it in the future, and to thank those who are making a heroic effort to bring this valuable exhibition to this country.