(MENAFN- Gulf Times) One of Iraq's best-known artists, Ismail Azzam, is hosting a series of art lessons at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, as part of the museums educational and local community engagementprogrammes.
The initiative is designed to stimulate creativity and appreciation around modern and
contemporary art in the region.
The art lessons, which run every Sunday and Wednesday between 4pm and 7pm until Ramadan, and between 11am and 2pm during Ramadan in Manara, Mathaf's Education Space, give participants a unique insight into the techniques used in portraiture drawing using pencil, charcoal and paint.
'Art education is a central activity at our museum, and we are proud to be able to offer these workshops to the local community, said Maryam al-Attiya, head, Mathaf Art
Programmes.
'This is a good opportunity for Qatar's artistic community to meet, learn from and be inspired by such a gifted and renowned Iraqi artist. Through workshops like this one, we aim to develop an engaged cultural audience and develop individuals' interests in artistic practices, she added.
The art lessons offer people with basic to intermediate sketching and drawing skills free of charge but require participants to bring their own sketch book.
The artist held a major exhibition at the QM Gallery in Katara back in 2015, presented by Qatar Museums (QM) under the leadership of its chairperson, HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.
Titled ‘For Them,' the exhibition showcased Azzam's distinctive ‘reverse charcoal' portraits of painters and sculptors who made a significant contribution to the Arab Art world.
Though Azzam also uses oil and water colour in many of his artworks, he is particularly highly regarded for his mastery of the distinctive technique known as ‘reverse charcoal drawing', which will be featured as part of the art lessons.
During this process, the whole canvas is first covered in charcoal, then slowly etched away using a rubber to accentuate contrasting shades of light and dark and create a range of
dramatic effects.
Born in Iraq in 1962, Azzam holds a Bachelor degree from the Fine Arts University in Baghdad, Iraq. In 1988 he started his career as a lecturer in Arts at the Institute of Teachers in Mosul before moving to Amman, Jordan to work as a director
of the Ain Art Gallery in 1993.
Azzam moved to Doha in 1996 to work as a painter for Mathaf, the National Council of Culture, and QM as curator at the Orientalist Museum collection. From 2009 until 2016, Azzam was the director of the Amiri Diwan
Museum Project.
Azzam's works were featured in Qatar several times in the past. In 2005, his solo exhibition was showcased as part of the Doha Cultural Festival and in 2010, his works were displayed at the Al Markhiya gallery. His works were also displayed at QM's 555 exhibition in 2015, held in the Garage Gallery at Doha's Fire Station Artists in Residency.
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