Nour Festival of Arts shines light on the best of contemporary Middle Eastern and North African arts and culture each October and November in venues across Kensington and Chelsea. Featuring music, film, food, exhibitions, talks and dance, Nour acts as a crucial meeting point for East and West.
Bayan Rahman, Kurdish Regional Government High Representative in Washington
Emma Nicholson, Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne
Five artists from Kurdistan and the UK – Mariwan Jalal, Jamal Penjweny, Tareq Razzouk, Ali Raza, and Rebwar Saed – present a personal and collective response to the ongoing conflict in Syria and Iraq, and the human repercussions of this turmoil. Complementing the exhibition is a series of work about the refugee camps in Kurdistan. Colouring the Dream is a project developed by Rebwar Saed featuring paintings by children in the Barike Refugee Camp, reflecting the traumatic events in their young lives. British photographer Richard Wilding continues to vividly document Kurdistan with a display of photographs from recent visits to camps in the region.
Curated by Gulan and Amin Pardhan-Abdulla.
Mariwan Jalal: born in Iraqi Kurdistan and now living in London, Mariwan is a mixed-media artist whose work explores the relationship between his subject matter and the environment.
www.mariwan.exto.nl
Jamal Penjweny: celebrated Kurdish photographer and filmmaker, who worked as a sculptor and painter, before reverting to photography in reporting on the Iraqi conflict.
www.jamalpenjweny.com
Tareq Razzouk: a Syrian artist and architect based in London, his paintings encapsulate the personal tragedy suffered by many in Syria.
www.tareqrazouk.wix.com/tareqrazzouk
Ali Raza: born in Iraqi Kurdistan and now living in Dublin, Ali Raza uses his art to voice an opinion on human rights.
www.alirazaart.com
Rebwar Saed: born in Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Saed’s work is influenced by the political struggle there, his time in exile before his return to Kurdistan.
www.rebwars.com
Richard Wilding: London based photographer and Gulan’s Creative Director, who extensively documents the people and culture of Iraqi Kurdistan.
www.richardwilding.com
Mukrian region