The reception of ancient Mesopotamia in modern Iraqi art : a study on Dia Al-Azzawi’s visual depictions

Abstract

This research presents a reception-based analysis of Mesopotamian imagery in modern Iraqi art, with a specific focus on the work of Dia al-Azzawi. The study situates itself within the emergence of Iraqi modernism, a period in which questions of identity were negotiated through the intersection of Western modernist aesthetics and Mesopotamian cultural heritage. It examines five selected works by al-Azzawi, alongside comparative material from four other Iraqi artists, namely Jewad Selim, Mohammed Ghani Hikmat, Hana Malallah, and Faisel Laibi Sahi. Methodologically, the study employs visual analysis, reception theory, and postcolonial approaches to examine how Mesopotamian motifs are interpreted, reconfigured, and recontextualised within modern Iraqi artistic practices. In doing so, it investigates how stylistic choices and visual strategies reflect broader concerns of cultural identity, historical memory, and postcolonial negotiation in Iraqi art. The research argues that Mesopotamian imagery in Iraqi modernism functions not as a static reference to antiquity, but as an active and evolving visual language through which questions of national identity, displacement, and postcolonial consciousness are continuously negotiated. It further demonstrates that while artists share a common engagement with heritage, their approaches (with specific reference to Dia al-Azzawi’s approach) differ significantly in terms of formal strategy, symbolic depth, and conceptual intent.