Azad Karim is a 68-year-old Kurdish artist who has been present on the Slovenian cultural scene as a painter and graphic artist for nearly thirty years.
Originally from Kurdistan, Iraq, Azad Karim draws inspiration for his artistic creations from his roots. Although he has lived and worked in Slovenia for several decades, he is aware of the socio-political conditions and the vulnerability of the cultural tradition in his home country. All this has triggered his artistic reactions on more than one occasion. This theme has long been reflected in his paintings, prints, video works and installations, and has also marked the artist's residency at MGLC Ljubljana.
During his residency, Karim created the opus of six prints in combined techniques titled Land of Hope. He used a special and original process of combining drawing with various printmaking techniques. This very unique artistic idea and techniques were represented at the pop-up presentation of his art production at MGLC Printmaking Studio at the end of his residency.
During his residency Azad also carried out two print workshops for children.
Each of his prints created during the residency is a collection of fragments in which ancient civilisations meet on a symbolic level with his personal experiences with contemporary trends in the visual arts. The terrible images of the tragic destruction of cultural monuments and heritage in the Middle East touch him deeply, both on the creative and intimate levels.
In the last ten years, Azad Karim has also travelled extensively around the world to study artefacts from the Euphrates and Tigris regions in museums. He has increasingly focused on the theme of refugees, war and the destruction of artefacts and personal memories related to the experience of displacement. He often crosses paths in creative ways with popular Slovenian traveller, activist and humanitarian Tomo Križnar (Tomo Križnar Foundation, http://www.tomokriznar.com/). They often organise exhibitions and talks focused on the current refugee crisis, the reasons for migration and ways to find peace in the world.
Residency dates: 1 - 28 October 2022
Azad Karim (1954, Arbil, Kurdistan, Iraq) enrolled at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad after completing secondary education. He graduated successfully and received the Institute award as one of the best students. He then decided to study abroad and came to Slovenia, where he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana in 1976. In 1980, he graduated in painting, and in 1983, he obtained a master's degree in printmaking.
Having completed his postgraduate studies in graphic art, he worked as a painter and graphic designer in Slovenia for nearly thirty years. After his training in Baghdad, he took courses in many different cultural cities in Europe, finally settling in Slovenia. In his art he combines his eastern and western experience of the world. His artworks are fraught with impressions and symbols from the two worlds, marked by the duality and synthesis of both. Azad Karim lives and works in Ajdovščina, Slovenia.
