Biography

Saddam Jumaily’s paintings stage uncanny scenes evoking the disorientation and precarity of his lived experience of displacement and conflict. Refraining from direct political commentary or immediately digestible narrative, Al Jumaily suspends his recurring themes of memory and nostalgia within an intricate philosophical arena of hybridised characters, fragmented shapes and enigmatic symbols. His surreal compositions operate as metaphors of anxiety, loss and suffering, underscoring the ways in which the chaos of war in his native Iraq has destabilised time, meaning and belonging.
His works have been shown at several solo exhibitions, including What happens always, Boushahri Art Gallery, Kuwait (2018); Inkography, Dar Al-Anda Gallery, Amman (2017); Dialogue Degree Zero II, Art Sawa, Dubai (2014); Daily Life, Orfali Gallery, Amman (2013); and Household Tunes, Dar Al-Anda Gallery, Amman (2011).Room without corner–Or no angel cell, Galleria Huuto, Helsinki (2022); I’m possible, Porvoon Taidehalli.Finland (2022)

Jumaily has also participated in many group exhibitions, such as, ; Middle East project, Theatre Academy, University of the Arts, Finland (2021); Object of imagination, Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts (2019); Art Dubai (2016); Beirut Art Fair (2015); Abu Dhabi Art (2013); and Contemporary Iraqi Art, Sultan Bin Ali Owais Establishment, Dubai (2012), among others.

His published works include The Effectiveness of the Aesthetic Discourse: Applications in Iraqi Plastic Arts (Al Adeeb Publishing House, 2012) and The Side of The Photo: A Question of Originality in Arab Contemporary Art (Arab Publishers’ Association, Amman, 2016).

Jumaily’s awards and grants include Finnish cultural foundation(2021–2022), Finland.Artist at Risk.2019-2020 ,Finland.. Rescue Fund Scholarship, Institute of International Education, Washington, DC (2015–2016); Expert young artists’ awards, Iraqi Plastic Artists society (2008); and State Incentive Award, Ministry of Culture, Iraq (2001).

He took part in the Saaren kartano – Saari residence, funded by Koneen Säätiö – Kone Foundation in Mynämäki, Southwest Finland, as part of the joint Artists at Risk (AR) programme curated by Perpetuum Mobile (2019).

Jumaily earned a BA in Visual Arts (Painting) and an MA in Fine Arts (Painting) from Basra University College of Fine Arts, Iraq (2000 and 2005 respectively).

Born in 1974 in Basra, Iraq, he lives and works in Helsinki.

SAF participation:
Sharjah Biennial 15 (2023)

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