Ala Bashir – is a physician and artist who earned his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from Iraqi College of Medicine, 1963, alongside his studies at Baghdad Institute of Fine Arts from 1959 to 1962. He obtained his Fellowship from Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh 1971 and became Head of the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Surgical Emergency Hospital, Baghdad, achieving numerous accomplishments in the field of medicine and surgery.
In the field of arts, Bashir is renowned for his portrayal of the human condition. His works have been widely exhibited, including in Baghdad, Belgrade, Bonn, Cairo, Doha, Dublin, London, Moscow, New Delhi, Paris, Rabat, Rome, Tunis, Vienna, New York, and United States of America. He designed two historically significant monuments in Baghdad: “The Union,” a stone statue depicting the love between man and woman; “The Cry,” a bronze statue depicting the tragedy of the Amiriya shelter, where an airstrike killed 400 women and children in 1991 during First Gulf War.
Bashir received Gold Medal at Baghdad International Biennale 1988, and second prize at International Poster Exhibition, Paris 1983. In 2003, he was awarded State Award for Fine Arts, Iraq’s highest art award. His works have been acquired by institutions such as D. H. Lawrence Museum, UK; University of Nottingham, UK; National Museum of Iraq; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Qatar; Jordan Museum; the 6th District Town Hall of Paris; as well as American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland; and Corvus Art Center, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
