2 Oct 2022 BOOK PUBLICATION: HOME Lockdown 2020-22 (Front Cover). Available from Waterstones.

Extensively illustrated, this special signed & numbered limited edition book (with one limited edition print from the HOME series) features drawings and paintings made during the pandemic lockdowns; a visual memoir marking a pivotal moment in world history, from a personal point of view.  With a critical essay by Dr Shakir Mustafa, the publication seeks to throw light on art made at a particularly challenging time in our collective memory. When homes across continents shut off to the ‘outside’ world, I found myself inviting people ‘inside’ my otherwise very private world; my HOME, albeit through art!  Surrounded by ceramics, sculptures and paintings I love, viewers joined me for a soothing ‘cuppa’ on my turquoise sofa, an ‘istikan of love’, ‘tea with dates and Matisse’, fruits from a treasured glass basket, or simply a wind-down with orchids, tulips and sunflowers, around that ‘magical glass table that never knew how magical it was until lockdown’!

ISBN 978-0-9559586-1-8 Signed and numbered limited edition of 150, with one limited edition print from the HOME series. Soft cover, 156 pages 23x28cm, 145 colour reproductions Price: £300 GBP.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

23 Apr - 4 June 2024 Solo Exhibition: Home • Shooting Stars and Wings,  almarkhiya gallery Doha, Qatar.

31 July 2023 HOME Through the Eyes of Maysaloun Faraj, by By Manar Al-Mutairi for Ithra Magazine

27 July 2023 Art Minute by Sophie Kazan

9-11 June 2023 from 1-4pm each day

OPEN STUDIO

In My Home Are Many Homes

15 Fulham High Street, London SW6 3JH

In celebration of the forthcoming highly anticipated 'Middle Eastern Artweek in London’ I have the pleasure of opening my studio to art enthusiasts and the public for an exclusive three days running (9-11 June) from 1-4pm (each day) and you are all welcome!

Besides discussing life and the meaning of life 😊 I look forward to walking you through my world of vibrant colour, steeped in rich cultural heritage, and sharing a glimpse of the creative process behind my latest painting inspired by Palestinian embroidery and indeed my earlier HOME series, made during the pandemic lockdowns.

Under the theme of 'In My Home are Many Homes,' this OPEN STUDIO delves into the profound notion that within the confines of one's home, a multitude of cultures, traditions, and identities can harmoniously coexist.  It recognizes the intricate tapestry of human experience, and the complexity and richness that arises from embracing diversity.  Prepare to be enchanted with beauty that emerges from this fervent exploration of the interconnectedness of our collective human existence. Everyone is welcome and I look forward to seeing you!

Nearest Tube Station is Putney Bridge

Nearest Bus Routes 74, 220, 430, 414

@maysalounfaraj #maysalounfaraj #ميسلون_فرج

June 2023 Article by Dr Shakir Mustafa (Northeastern University, Boston) titled إحتفاء أوروبي بفنانات وفنانين من أصل عراقي (European Ovation for Artists of Iraqi Descent) reviewing the latest accomplishments of four artists including Suad al-Attar, Maysaloun Faraj, Hussain Ali Harba and Athier Mousawi

8 March 2023 Art, Community and Social Media in Maysaloun Faraj’s Contemporary Work, Journal of Contemporary Iraq & the Arab Worl, by Dr Shakir Mustafa Northeastern University Volume 17 Numbers 1&2 www.intellectbooks.com

2-5 February 2003 Menart Fair (Middle East & North Africa Art), Belgium Brussels

17 November 2022 Teatime with Dates and Matisse by Rawaa Talas for the Arab News

24 October 2022 Farouq Salloum, ‘Fee Ibtikar al-Jamal’ (In Creating Beauty)

7 Oct 2022 - 17 Sept 2023 Artists Making Books: Poetry to Politics British Museum

History in Ruins (Earthstone and raffia, 30x60cm, 2005 Collection of the British Museum)

Curated by Dr Venetia Porter, I am proud to announce that my ceramic work titled ‘History in Ruins’ is part of this small yet powerful exhibition currently on show at the British Museum. “From the land between the two rivers, I pick up in my mind’s eye remnants of pages from an ancient past scripted on clay tablets, where man first recorded his deeds and victories, and recreate my own. I ‘sew’ them together in an act of healing and hope. I stand them tall and proud, like an open gate, defiant and dignified like our precious date palms, like our people, like our spirit. Our history, ‘world’ history, is in ruins; shattered and burnt to the ground.”

13 July - 3 Sept 2022 Hidden UK Hidden Ireland, Flowers Gallery London HOME2 11 Acrylic on Paper 2020

Galerie Mark Hachem presents HOME Lockdown 2020-22 Maysaloun Faraj Preview Thursday 9 June 2022 6-9pm (Exhibition continues until 22 June 2022) Galerie Mark Hachem 28 Place des Vosges Paris

5 May 2022 It’s Nice That A “fusion of east and west, Maysaloun Faraj sees art as an important means for self-exploration, by Olivia Hingley

May 2021 Emergeast Drive for Palestine

May 2021 Dirty Barn Maysaloun Faraj Documents This Surreal Times of Pandemic in ‘Home’ Series, by Miray Sincer

4 Feb 2021 Jacksons Art Five Artists Experiment with Jackson’s Watercolour Paper, by Clare McNamara

13 May 2020 Scene Arabia Iraqi Artist Maysaloun Faraj on Art And Identity In Isolation And Beyond, by Dalia Awad

The Spaces Selects 5 inspiring creatives to follow on Instagram, by Marcia Veiga

2020 Middle East Institute Art in Isolation: Creativity in the Time of Covid-19, Washington USA

23 June 2020 Ahram Online Stay Home: Draw Home: Domestic vantage points, Iraq-style Rania Khallaf

1 May 2020 Coronavirus and art: How Middle East artists have responded to lockdown by Tim Cornwell

9 March 2020 Selections Arts Artists in Quarantine

2019 Arab Art Online Maysaloun Faraj: Flying Without Wings

8 March 2018 Shooting Stars, Atelier 2031 - Cité internationale des arts

2017 Massimo Cedrini Art Gallery, Selections Arts

18 Oct 2017 Cité International des Arts, Al-Mansouria Foundation

11 Oct 2014 War Resisters League, On US Escalation Against Iraq and Syria

12 March 2013 Picturing Politics Learning from Artists’ Responses to the Iraq War a Decade on, by Alan Ingram

2013 Hadeethun Akhaer (Another Dialogue) Interview with Ricardo Karam

2013 We Are Iraqis: Aesthetics and Politics in a Time of War, by Nadje al-Ali and Deborah al-Najjar  

Jan 2012 Putting contemporary Iraqi art on the map: A conversation with Maysaloun Faraj, by Nadja al-Ali

28 Sept 2011 Food for the Spirit and the Soul by Robert Neralich  

2009 Stolen Dreams Presented by Raji Omar and Christina Garabidian for AlJazeera

Ibrahimi Collection, Amman, Jordan

15 March 2009 IRAQ’S PAST SPEAKS TO THE PRESENT, British Museum, London, 10 Nov 2008, by Issam Kourgaj

2008 Mohamed is Absent. I am Performing Contemporary Iraqi Art and the Destruction of Cultural Heritage   

2006 Word Into Art, Venetia Porter, British Museum

2007 Eastern Art Report by Sajid Rizvi

2006 Leighton House Museum would like to thank Maysaloun Faraj at Aya Gallery for her support of this event

2 May 2006 Occupied Space: Art for Palestine, Gallery 27, Cork Street, 15-20 May 2006, Susannah Tarbush, Saudi Gazette 

2004 Carrying the Torch for Iraqi Art, by Karen Debrowska for Bradt Travel Guides  

16 Jan-16 Mar 2003 IRAQI ART NOW: LOOKING OUT, LOOKING IN, DePaul University, USA

1999 Dialogue of the Present: The Work of 18 Contemporary Arab Women Artists, Curated by Suimee Keelan

Getty Images by Maher Attar