Maysaloun Faraj

Maysaloun Faraj is a London-based painter, sculptor, and ceramist. Born in California, USA, 1955 to Iraqi parents, she moved to Iraq in 1968. Faraj graduated with a BSc in Architecture, from Baghdad University in 1978, and moved to London with her husband, the architect Ali Mousawi, 1982. She soon relocated to Paris with her young family, and returned to live in London 1984, Here, she was able to further her art education. Faraj revisited Paris as a resident of the Cité Internationale des Arts in 2015/17/18. Maysaloun Faraj has continued to live and work in London since 1982.

Faraj is also integral to the rise of Modern art from Iraq and the Middle East, with curatorial work including the first international tour of contemporary and modern Iraqi art, 2000-03 (UK/USA). She is Editor of the seminal publication Strokes of Genius: Contemporary Iraqi art (Saqi Books 2001) and founder of the International Network of Contemporary Iraqi Art (incia.co.uk 1995), the first website featuring the work of Iraqi artists world-wide. Furthermore, she co-founded the Aya Gallery (ayagallery.co.uk 2002 – 2010) in London; a critical platform to promote and advance art from Iraq and the Middle East. Faraj also served as a judge for the first Arab Art & Culture Award in the UK in 2008.

Her work is held in prestigious collections including the British MuseumUK, National Museum for Women in the Arts USA, Rotterdam Werldmuseum Netherlands, Agha Khan Foundation, Canada and UK, Barjeel Art Foundation, UAE, Jordan National Museum, Amman, Centre for Arab American Studies USA, Hussain Ali Harba Italy, Basil al-Rahim UK, Abdul Majid Briesh UK, Ali Husri Jordan, Ibrahimi Collection Jordan, Hamed Abdullah and Nasser al-Khouri Qatar, Abraham Karabajakian Lebanon, Mark Hachem France and private collections throughout the MiddleEast, Europe, Australia and the USA.