Two Shores - Due Sponde

Baldin Ahmad, Resmi Al Kafaji, Qassim Alsaedy,

20th April – 4th May 2022
inauguration Wednesday 20th April 2022, h. 18,00

Three voices, three stories in common, a single biography, Due Sponde – Two Shores is the exhibition of  three Iraqi artists, Baldin Ahmad, Resmi Al Kafaji and Qassim Alsaedy, which opens on Wednesday 20th April, 2022 at Galleria Immaginaria in Florence.
They grew up in the same environment, studied art in the same place (Baghdad) and were pupils of the same teachers. Persecuted together with their families in their own country, they have shared the harsh conditions of exile since youth. This allowed all three to become singular artists.
The title of the exhibition “Two Shores” is a metaphor of the situation they are currently in: divided between two worlds. The world where they now spend their lives, Europe, and the world from which they came and where they have their roots. Europe is where they have lived for more than forty years and it represents artistic freedom for them, while in their native country an artist’s right to express himself freely is still not allowed. They left Iraq for various reasons, but all three were convinced they would return after completing their studies to make a contribution to the country’s cultural and artistic development. Unfortunately, this proved impossible due to their opposition to the regime and the war between Iraq and Iran.
Despite having lost physical contact with their homeland, Iraq has always remained important in their lives and, in fact, the works of the three artists derive mainly from the nostalgic feeling they have for their country.
They believe – and have experienced – that they can make a difference, in the belief that wars and injustices can be fought by art and culture. Art is generally a means of communication and with this exhibition these artists aim at involving the Western public and to give an insight into the situation in Iraq. At the same time they raise universal issues, namely of the pain caused by all kinds of conflicts, but also the hope of a better future, trusting their works will collaborate in the process of awareness and in building a bridge between East and West.
The exhibition is divided into three stages. It starts in Italy (Florence) and will continue in the Netherlands (Utrecht) to end in Iraq in Suleymania and Baghdad. For them, it will be the first exhibition in the capital of their country of origin following their exile. This is truly a special event in which all three, coming from different parts of the country (Resmi from the south, Qassim from the centre and Baldin from the north), can now express their brotherhood for the first time in their homeland and in a joint exhibition.
One of the objectives of the three artists is to introduce  young Iraqi generations to their experience in Europe, in the hope of inspiring and stimulating them to give a free externalization to their artistic expression, in the certainty that even in this way they will be able to contribute to building a peaceful future for Iraq.

Opening hours to the public:
from Monday to Saturday, 10.00-13.00 / 15.30-19.30