Nori Al Rawi

Born in Rawa- Iraq; 1925 died in Baghdad 2014.
Al-Rawi studied at the Teachers College, Baghdad, graduating in 1941. In 1959, he received a BA in fine arts from Baghdad’s Institute of Fine Arts. He was then awarded two scholarships to study abroad, first in Yugoslavia, where he studied art in 1962, and second, in Portugal, to study art management in 1966. When he returned to Iraq, he produced and wrote a regularly scheduled television program, The Art Program, which aired during the 1970’s. as well as being an artisit, Al-Rawi is an art critic and art historian, and has authored numerous essays on art for both Arab and international journals. He has also written books including Meditations on Contemporary Iraqi Art (1962), The Path to Iraqi Folklore (1962), Jewad Salim (1963), and Contemporary German Art (1965).
He was chair of the Society of Iraqi Plastic Artists in 1980, a founding member of the Union of Iraqi Artists, a member of the Al-Rawad Group (he took part in all the group’s exhibitions). He was also secretary of the National Committee League of Art Critics, Iraq.
Al-Rawi chaired the fine art department at the Institute of Fine Arts and was a curator at the Museum of Modern Art in Baghdad. His work reflects his interest in everyday Iraqi village life as well as childhood memory. His work is held in collections including the Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad; Mathaf; Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; and Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman. He died in Baghdad in 2014.