Encounters on the Tigris & Sound Lab
Encounters on the Tigris & Sound Lab The Sound Lab As part of the World Weather Network, artists and writers will share weather reports about their local weather and climate for a year starting on June 21, 2022. The marshes of southern Iraq, with their significant cultural and historical importance, are threatened by dams, neglect, […]
Silence Along the River
Silence Along the River 2021 Single-channel video 7:02 colour VHS Archive Credit for Archive Abbas Abdulrazaq In 1985 a group of Kurdish fighters, known as a Peshmerga, was on a mission to attack one of the military campuses in the north of Iraq. They took the Sirwan River by a small raft to cross the […]
dado
dado I was called ‘dado’ when I was a child Dado is a combination of letters that has no meaning in Kurdish, as my first language nor in the other languages I was exposed to: such as Arabic Persian or Turkish even for me, it didn’t have a specific meaning dado was my first word […]
Chalk Line
From Ahmad Abdulla’s album Chalk Lines This project focuses on the Red Security Building in the city of Sulaymaniyah. The building is a powerful symbol of the era of Saddam Hussein’s regime, which was characterized by the imprisonment, torture, and execution of Kurdish dissidents. The Red Jail, which was also known as Amna Suraka, has […]
The Map of Iraq
The map of Iraq After Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, many unusual goods and products appeared in the bazaars of Iraq. These were things that had been looted from Kuwait by Iraqi soldiers and sold on the black market in order to pay for basic supplies for their families. During that time, I was a […]
The Tank of my Sketchbook
Still from the video The tank of my sketchbook Single-Channel – 6’54 minutes colour HD and Archive The project will attempt to understand and convey conflict from the experience and perspective of a child. The aim is to reflect on how conflicts are portrayed and presented, and to reveal the power structures underlying the […]
Paper puppet testimony
Paper Puppet Testimony 2019 Single-channel video 8:17 Colour VHS-HD Commissioned by Spotlight Iraq, Goethe institute Iraq Credit for Archive, Abbas Abdulrazaq PAPER PUPPET TESTIMONY The Kurdish uprising of 1991 against venomous dictator Saddam Hussein continues to be an important historical event for all Kurdish people. It was the day that marked the defeat of […]
The Iraqi Numismatic Society
THE IRAQI NUMISMATIC SOCIETY The Iraqi numismatic society is secret society represented by the artist Sherko Abbas who works, in his office, to reproduce the faces of Iraq coins that have disappeared from circulation. His role shifts from that archaeologist to counterfeiter as he uses the rubbing technic (like tracing an image) to make national symbols […]
Other Works
I am still working on this page https://vimeo.com/394264204
What is July doing
WHAT IS JULY DOING? The work is built on a tension between a girl’s subtle and delicate silhouette and a considerable burden strung on her hair, which she manages to lift. July Spears in an empty fitness club, her exercises create a strange formal dissonance in this predictable and obvious surrounding. Still from the video […]
Wild instrument
WHEN THE WILD INSTRUMENT SING “The Wild Instrument” is an ongoing project initiated by Sherko Abbas. The artist developed a musical instrument from a small handmade object called damaqachan [spoke]. In Iraq, damaqachan is a simple toy, constructed from bicycle spokes, nails and matches, which sets off miniature explosions. Abbas’s instrument operates on a similar […]
Sharwal
SHARWAL Sharwal is the name given to the local trousers that are worn traditionally by men in Kurdistan. Made from tightly weaved wool and meticulously pleated, Sharwal can be filled with air and used to assist in flotation. The bubble it creates when submerged into water has both a form and a function that helps in crossing […]