“All Manner of Experiments: Legacies of the Baghdad Modern Art Group” at CCS Bard, Annandale-On-Hudson

“All Manner of Experiments: Legacies of the Baghdad Modern Art Group” at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College’s (CCS Bard) Hessel Museum of Art is the first exhibition to contextualize and historicize an essential chapter in Arab modern and contemporary art. This in-depth presentation of the Baghdad Modern Art Group, which was founded in 1951 and remained a creative force through the early 1970s, presents a spirited picture of multiple generations of artists working together to forge a new and distinct aesthetic that captured the dynamism and hope of postcolonial life in Iraq. The exhibition invites audiences to learn about modernism from the vantage point of Iraq—a vibrant site of exchange and influence across West Asia, North Africa, and Europe, reflecting on the group’s formation, progression, and impact on subsequent generations of artists.
On view June 21 through October 19, 2025, “All Manner of Experiments” will combine significant examples of painting, sculpture, and drawing from the Group with archival material, including newsreel footage, the Group’s manifesto, exhibition posters, and artist-designed brochures. The exhibition is curated by expert in modern Iraqi art history Nada Shabout along with specialist in modern Iraqi art Tiffany Floyd, and Artistic Director of CCS Bard Lauren Cornell.
“The artists of the Baghdad Modern Art Group thought of themselves as international citizens carving contributions in an inclusive modern history through forging unique artistic identities. Their explorations manifested in iconic work and charted a path of aesthetic formation that engaged their heritage in a dynamic present. Most importantly, the exhibition allows for a rare opportunity to gather and view works by members of the Group, many of which have not been seen since their initial exhibition,” said Shabout.
“Developed through extensive research, this foundational show reflects CCS Bard’s commitment to building scholarship of contemporary art histories, in this case, a chapter of Iraqi art that has not yet been exhibited or studied at a U.S. institution,” said Cornell. “The exhibition provides a rich teaching and learning opportunity, as it reframes Iraqi art and global modernism for students, scholars, and broad audiences, both in New York and around the world.”
“All Manner of Experiments” draws from eminent collections such as the Barjeel Art Foundation (Sharjah, United Arab Emirates), The Ramzi and Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation (DAF) (Beirut, Lebanon), the Farjam Foundation (Dubai, United Arab Emirates), Ibrahimi Collection (Amman, Jordan and Baghdad, Iraq), and Qatar Museums / Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art (Doha, Qatar), as well as from artists and estates.
The Baghdad Modern Art Group was formed after a dynamic period of accelerated change and growth in Iraq following the nation’s liberation from British rule in 1932. During the 1930s and ’40s, amid ongoing political turbulence, artists began a crucial negotiation between a nascent postcolonial national consciousness and a burgeoning modernism. Iraqi artists were challenged on two intersecting fronts: on the one hand, with the need to construct points of continuity with Iraqi visual history, and on the other, with the call to create new forms of representation capable of expressing a modern existence.
Jewad Selim and Shakir Hassan Al Said, founders of the Baghdad Modern Art Group, united artists under the shared commitment of “Istilham al turath,” which translates to seeking inspiration and motivation from artistic heritage through innovative methods. Amid the broader sociopolitical tensions and rising revolutionary fervor, the Group synthesized the concerns of a vast swathe of artists by interpreting the abstraction of Western modernism through aesthetics drawn from Islamic and Mesopotamian cultures into various styles.
Spanning works from 1946 to 2023, “All Manner of Experiments” will focus on the relationships within the Baghdad Modern Art Group, including teacher-student dynamics, aesthetic experiments, and the contributions of lesser-known members as well as Group precedents and peers. The exhibition is organized into a series of experimental narratives that demonstrate membership in the group as not a fixed process, but a flow of people and ideas held together by a common impetus toward material innovation and aesthetic exploration.
In addition to examining the Group’s formation through the work of its two leaders and the contributions of its original members, “All Manner of Experiments” will track the Group’s changing membership over the first decade of its formation and attempts to retain its continuity as a group after the untimely death of Selim in 1961. The loss of Selim ushered in a period of fragmentation that coincided with political and social upheaval in Iraq, including regional conflicts such as the 1967 Arab defeat, as well as the rise of pan-Arabism, which strongly impacted Iraqi artists and intellectuals. This era also saw newly established institutions flourish, including the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad (later the College of Fine Arts) and National Museum of Modern Art, bringing about a new understanding of modernism and the emergence of the New Vision Group in 1969, which expanded on the Baghdad Group’s ideals to confront contemporary injustices. Their manifesto emphasized activism, reflecting the turbulent realities of the era and marking a departure from earlier artistic focuses.
By the 1980s and beyond, the movement’s legacy persisted amid challenges, including war, sanctions, isolation, and diaspora. A later generation of artists grappled with the destruction of cultural infrastructure and sought inspiration from the Group’s principles. Many artists in the diaspor
Featured artists include Faraj Abbu, Mohammed Himat Ali, Sadik Kwaish Alfraji, Dia al-Azzawi, Rasoul Alwan, Shakir Hassan Al Said, Khalil al-Ward, Qahtan Awni, Bogus Bablanian, Amar Dawod, Ismail Fattah, Ghassan Ghaib, Mohammed Ghani Hikmat, Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, Fouad Jihad, Ardash Kakafian, Hanaa Malallah, Mahmoud Obaidi, Widad al-Orfali, Suad al-Attar, Khalid al- Rahal, Miran al-Saadi, Mahmoud Sabri, Naziha Selim, Nazar Salim (Nizar Selim), Jewad Selim, Lorna Selim, Kareem Risan, Walid Siti, and Nazar Yahya.
at CCS Bard, Annandale-On-Hudson
until October 19, 2025

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