Farouk Kaspaules
Farouk Kaspaules is an Iraqi-born Canadian artist of Assyrian origin,[1] noted for his engravings and silk-screen photography.
Life and career[edit]
Born in Baghdad, Kaspaules left Iraq in the mid-1970s for political reasons.[2] After a brief stay in the United States, he chose Canada as his country of exile and settled in Ottawa.[3] He received his art education at the University of Ottawa, graduating in 1989 with Bachelor degrees in Fine Arts and Art History.[4]
He has contributed to the arts community in Canada through his active involvement in artist-run centres and community organizations.
He mixes traditional Arabic iconography with modern symbols to produce works that reflect themes of exile, cultural displacement and related social issues.[5]
Work[edit]
Kaspaules works in oils and mixed media.[6] He also executes engravings and silk-screen photography.[7]
During his first European exhibition in London, England, in 1993, he established links with other exiled artists from the Middle East, specifically from Iraq. These encounters led to a turning point in his artistic production, which became more politically explicit.
In 2001, Kaspaules's installation …and at night we leave our dreams on window sill, memory of a place (2000) was included in the major exhibition The Lands within Me: Expressions by Canadian Artists of Arab Origin, which opened at the Canadian Museum of History soon after the September 11 attacks.[8]
In 2016, Kaspaule exhibited works in There’s Room: Ottawa Artists Respond to the Refugee Crisis, held at Gallery 101.[9]
Kaspaules has participated in some 20 solo and collective exhibitions in Canada, England, Hungary, France, Chile and Brazil.[10]
Solo exhibitions[edit]
- 1993- A Personal Memory, Kufa Gallery, London, England[11]
- 1995 - Non Sequitur
- 2000 - The Lands Within Me – Memory of a Place
- 2003 - State of Things
- 2003 - The 9th International Cairo Biennale, Cairo, Egypt
- 2004 - Crossing Borders
- 2005 - Traces
- 2006 - Iconoclast
- 2007 - Be/Longing Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, Canada[12]
- 2008 - Inhabitants, Centre d'exposition L'Imagier, Aylmer, Quebec[13]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Farouk Kaspaules: Be/Longing". Archived from the original on 2010-03-10. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
- ^ Hawa, S., The Erasure of Arab Political Identity: Colonialism and Violence, Taylor & Francis, 2017, p. x; Bourque, D. and Kaouk, A., The Lands Within Me: Expressions by Canadian Artists of Arab Origin, Canadian Museum of Civilization, 2003, p.20
- ^ Burant, Jim (2022). Ottawa Art & Artists: An Illustrated History. Toronto: Art Canada Institute. ISBN 978-1-4871-0289-0.
- ^ Burant, Jim (2022). Ottawa Art & Artists: An Illustrated History. Toronto: Art Canada Institute. ISBN 978-1-4871-0289-0.
- ^ "Farouk Kapaules," [Biography], Canadian History Museum, Online:
- ^ Salloum, J. (ed.), Sharq min hunā, YYZ Artists' Outlet, 1996, p. 40
- ^ Bourque, D. and Kaouk, A., The Lands Within Me: Expressions by Canadian Artists of Arab Origin, Canadian Museum of Civilization, 2003, p.28
- ^ Burant, Jim (2022). Ottawa Art & Artists: An Illustrated History. Toronto: Art Canada Institute. ISBN 978-1-4871-0289-0.
- ^ Burant, Jim (2022). Ottawa Art & Artists: An lllustrated History. Toronto: Art Canada Institute. ISBN 978-1-4871-0289-0.
- ^ Farouk Kaspaules (Canada)
- ^ Art Now Gallery Guide, (International), Volume 12, Issue 11, 1993, p. 81
- ^ "Exhibitions Offer Different View of the Middle East," Ottawa Citizen, 29 November, 2007, Online:
- ^ Eventful, Online: