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NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery is presenting “All Manner of Experiments: Legacies of the Baghdad Modern Art Group,” curated by Nada Shabout and on view through January 3, 2027. The exhibition brings together artists from the group founded in Baghdad in 1951, artists it influenced, and contemporary practitioners, connecting Iraq’s mid-century modern art movement with its continuing influence.
NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery is presenting “All Manner of Experiments: Legacies of the Baghdad Modern Art Group,” an exhibition curated by Nada Shabout that follows the group’s influence from its founding in 1951 to artists working today. The show brings together works by members of the Baghdad circle and artists influenced by it, placing a major chapter in Iraqi modern art in view in the UAE through January 3, 2027.
The Baghdad Modern Art Group was established in 1951 by Iraqi artists Jewad Selim (1919–1961) and Shakir Hassan Al Said (1925–2004). It grew into a wider circle that included artists, architects and poets. The exhibition presents the group not only through its founders, but also through work by participants and later generations connected to its ideas.
According to the exhibition announcement, the artists sought to develop a visual language that responded to their own time and place while engaging with global modernism. The show includes works by Selim and Al Said alongside artists such as Naziha Salim, Dia al-Azzawi, Madiha Umar and contemporary artist Rand Abdul Jabbar. Al Said’s “Horse” (1962) and Selim’s “Good and Evil, An Abstraction” (1951) are among the works identified in the source material; a 2024 work from Abdul Jabbar’s “Earthly Wonders, Celestial Beings” series is also listed.
Shabout, a scholar and curator of modern and contemporary Arab and Iraqi art, is the exhibition’s curator. She is a senior investigator at NYU Abu Dhabi’s al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art and a visiting professor of art history, according to the announcement. The gallery says the exhibition remains open until January 3, 2027.
A Baghdad Movement Across Generations
The exhibition’s central significance is its presentation of the Baghdad Modern Art Group as an ongoing influence, rather than a movement confined to the 1950s. By placing works from the original circle alongside art by later and contemporary practitioners, the show makes visible the connections the curatorial framing draws between Iraqi modernism and artists working across generations.
That approach also brings a history rooted in Baghdad to an audience in Abu Dhabi. The announcement describes the group as part of a period when Iraqi artists were testing how art could represent a changing society and engage with modernity. The exhibition offers visitors a chance to encounter that history through artworks and artists, while the breadth of the selection signals how the group’s legacy is being presented as extending beyond its founders.
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Iraq’s 1950s Art Experiment
The group emerged after the Kingdom of Iraq became an independent state in 1932. The source report describes artists in the following decades as exploring the possibilities of a secularizing modern society and questioning whether established artistic practices could express contemporary Iraqi realities. In that setting, modern art was understood by some artists as a shared international space as well as a means of cultural representation.
Artist groups sought to advance modern art and national representation through culture. The 1950s are described in the report as a period of maturation for Iraqi artists, who developed art theory and practice and opened possibilities for later generations. Selim and Al Said’s group was part of that broader activity; the current exhibition frames its experimental approach as continuing to connect Iraqi artists beyond Baghdad and across the present day.
“The artists sought to develop a new art form that negotiated a time of globally inflected modernism from Baghdad.”
— Exhibition announcement
Details Beyond the Announcement
The available announcement identifies the curator, venue, closing date and a selection of artists and works, but it does not provide a full checklist, gallery-by-gallery layout, admission details or a schedule of public programs. It also does not specify how many works are included or explain the selection criteria for the artists represented.
The exhibition’s claim of a continuing legacy is its curatorial framing; the supplied material does not detail how individual artists interpret or assess that influence. Further information may be available from the gallery, but those specifics are not included in the source report.
Exhibition Runs Through January 2027
“All Manner of Experiments: Legacies of the Baghdad Modern Art Group” is scheduled to remain on view at the NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery through January 3, 2027. Visitors seeking current opening hours, access information or event details should consult the gallery’s official exhibition listing, as those particulars were not included in the announcement.
The exhibition’s extended run gives audiences in the UAE time to see works associated with the 1951 group and later artists placed in conversation with it. Any additional programming or changes to the presentation have not been stated in the material provided.
Key Questions
Where is the Baghdad Modern Art Group exhibition?
It is at the NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery in the UAE.
How long is the exhibition on view?
The gallery’s announcement lists January 3, 2027 as the final day.
Who founded the Baghdad Modern Art Group?
The group was established in 1951 by Iraqi artists Jewad Selim and Shakir Hassan Al Said.
Who curated “All Manner of Experiments”?
The exhibition was curated by Nada Shabout, a scholar and curator of modern and contemporary Arab and Iraqi art.
Does the exhibition include contemporary artists?
Yes. The announcement says it includes artists influenced by the group in later generations, including contemporary artist Rand Abdul Jabbar.
Source: hyperallergic.com
