PUBLICATIONS
This section includes exhibition catalogues, books, and published articles that document the work of Maysaloun Faraj and explore various aspects of her artistic practice.
EXHIBITION CATALOGUES & PUBLICATIONS
2025 SOLO EXHIBITION CATALOGUE Roots and Horizons: T/Racing Time (Selected works 2005-25), Contemporary Art Platform, Kuwait @capkuwait (11 Nov - 6 Dec 2025).
CATALOGUE with Foreword by Venetia Porter and Introduction by Sophie Kazan Makhlouf.
Contemporary Art Platform presents a solo exhibition by Maysaloun Faraj, featuring a curated selection of paintings spanning 20 years of her artistic exploration. Born in the United States, educated in Baghdad, and based in London with periods in Paris, Faraj’s work is shaped by memory, cultural heritage and the enduring search for meaning amid change. Engaging with place, identity and continuity, she transforms upheaval into visual poetry, finding harmony in chaos. From early geometric investigations to her acclaimed Nakhal and HOME series, the exhibition unfolds chronologically and thematically, inviting visitors to trace the evolution of her work alongside the life experiences it reflects.
2024 SOLO EXHIBITION CATALOGUE HOME . Shooting Stars & Wings’ A Ten-year Odyssey (2014-24), AlMarkhiya Gallery, in collaboration with Dar Hessa lil Funoun, Doha, Qatar (23 April - 4 June 2024). Showcasing selected works made over the past decade, Faraj continues to explore universal themes, such as love, loss, courage and beauty, through various media, including drawing, painting, ceramics and sculpture, emphasising order, harmony, colour, and geometric form.
2023 GROUP EXHIBITION CATALOGUE Artists Making Books: Poetry to Politics, The British Museum, (7 Oct 2022 - 17 Sept 2023).
The ceramic work titled ‘History in Ruins’ is part of this small yet powerful exhibition, curated by Venetia Porter, at the British Museum. Maysaloun writes, “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”.
2022 SOLO EXHIBITION CATALOGUE HOME Lockdown 2020-22 (selected pages) Published October 2022.
Extensively illustrated, this special signed & numbered limited edition book includes one limited edition print from the HOME series, and 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 Soft cover, 156 pages 23x28cm, 145 colour reproductions. Available at Waterstones and the artist’s studio.
2023 ARTICLE Four Artists of Iraqi Descent, by Dr Shakir Mustafa forthe scholarly journal World Literature Today featured the work of Maysaloun Faraj on it’s cover with an in-depth article about her work and that of three distinguished Iraqi artist: Hussain Harba, Athier Mousawi and Suad al-Attar.
2013 PUBLICATION We Are Iraqis: Aesthetics and Politics in a Time of War, by Nadje al-Ali and Deborah al-Najjar.
2009 GROUP EXHIBITION CATALOGUE Iraq's Past Speaks to the Present John Addis Islamic Gallery British Museum London 2008.
2014 PRIVATE COLLECTION Longing for Eternity, One Century of Modern and Contemporary Iraqi Art, Hussain Ali Harba Family Collection, Skira Publishers.
2009 SOLO EXHIBITION CATALOGUE MAYSALOUN FARAJ Boats and Burdens: Kites and Shattered Dreams, AYA Gallery, London 2009. “For the women of Iraq who, despite burden upon unprecedented burden, stand tall, proud and resilient, like her precious date palms, nurturing like the sweet waters of Dijla and Furat. And for her children who will reclaim the skies with their imagination, the future with their dreams”.
2008 GROUP EXHIBITION CATALOGUE Word into Art: Artists from the Modern Middle East Venetia Porter The British Museum Press London / DIFC Dubai 2008.
2006 GROUP EXHIBITION CATALOGUE Word into Art: Artist from the Modern Middle East
VenetiaPorter The British Museum, London 2006.
2006 GROUP EXHIBITION CATALOGUE Occupied Space: Art for Palestine Palestine Solidarity Campaign & Qattan Foundation London.
2003 GROUP EXHIBITION CATALOGUE Strokes of Genius: Contemporary Iraqi Art: Iraqi Art Now: Looking Out, Looking In, DePaul Art Museum, DePaul University, Chicago, USA 2003, 16 January - 16 March 2003.
2002 GROUP EXHIBITION CATALOGUE Master Strokes The October Gallery in collaboration with Lulu al-Humoud London 2002.
2002 GROUP EXHIBITION CATALOGUE Contemporary Arab Art Dale Egee Wereldmuseum Rotterdam Netherlands 2001.
2001 GROUP EXHIBITION CATALOGUE Strokes of Genius: Contemporary Iraqi Art Maysaloun Faraj (Editor) Saqi Books London 2001.
1999 GROUP EXHIBITION CATALOGUE Contemporary Arab Women's Art: Dialogue of the Present Fran Lloyd Womens Art Library London 1999.
1999 GROUP EXHIBITION CATALOGUE Artists for Human Rights Trust International Print Portfolio Universal Declaration of Human Rights Commission Durban South Africa 1999.
1994 GROUP EXHIBITION CATALOGUE Forces of Change: Arab Women Artists
Selwa Mikdadi Nashashibi, International Council for Women in the Arts & National Museum for Women in the Arts, Washington USA 1994.
PUBLISHED ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS, ART JOURNALS, NEWSPAPERS
2024 ARTICLE Maysaloun Faraj’s Creativity in Doha for the First Time, almarkhiya Gallery, ALDOHA ALSHARQ.
2024 ARTICLE Exhibition Launch of Maysaloun Faraj: HOME, Shooting Stars and Wings (A Ten-Year Odyssey), almarkhiya Gallery, ALDOHA QANA, Doha Qatar
2004 ARTICLE Exhibition curated by almarkhiya Gallery and Dar Hissa for the Arts, Fire Station, Doha, Qatar
2018 INTERVIEW Selections Magazine | Interview by Mona Khazindar 2018.
2017 ARTICLE Cultural Narratives | Selections #44.
2007 ARTICLE Eastern Art Report by Sajid Rizvi.
2004 FEATURE The Middle East in London First Issue London 2004.
2001 ARTICLE The Middle East in London SOAS Conference Stacey International London 2001.
1996 ARTICLE Arts & the Islamic World Issue No 29 Article by Therese Rinaldi London.
1995 ARTICLE Uyoun Arabiya Arabian Eyes Exhibition of Arab women artists at Beit al-Sirkal Sharjah UAE 1995.
1995 SPECIAL VISIT Wilfred Thesiger epic meeting in preparation for the project at the time: Strokes of Genius: Contemporary Iraqi Art 1995.
1995 ARTICLE Al-Bayan Uyoun Arabiya Exhibition of Arab women artists at Beit al-Sirkal Sharjah UAE, 26 Nov 1995.
1995 ARTICLE Hello! 1995.
1994 SOLO EXHIBITION INVITATION Argile Gallery, Blenheim Crescent, London 1994.
1992 ARTICLE Sayyidaty by Waheeda al-Miqdadi London 1992.
ARTIST’S PUBLICATIONS HIGHLIGHTING WORKS ACROSS DIVERSE MEDIA
2020 ARTIST-CURATED CATALOGUE Maysaloun Faraj BRONZES 2010-20.
2016 ARTIST-CURATED CATALOGUE Maysaloun Faraj Ceramics.
2015 ARTIST-CURATED CATALOGUE Maysaloun Faraj Bird Symphony Paris.
2014 ARTIST-CURATED CATALOGUE Maysaloun Faraj Wood Cutouts.