Kamal Ahmad's exhibition, Derealization: Kurdistan, Art & Memory, explored the connections between people, memory and place. Decades of war in Iraq and Syria have left towns razed with people trapped in collapsed buildings, innumerable lives and memories lost in the fragments. Combining large scale sculptures and paintings, Ahmad reflected on his personal experience with the destruction of constant war and rebuilt like an artist can—with feeling, imagination, and reverence. The exhibition was on view at the Crossings Gallery from January 19–February 23, 2023.
Derealization: Kurdistan, Art & Memory
In partnership with Artisans Asylum
This exhibition was on view at the Crossings Gallery from January 19–February 23, 2023.
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Preserving History Through Art
"My art expresses personal and collective suffering. Growing up in the Kurdistan Region, I found myself shattered by the cruelties of constant war and became critical and unsatisfied with the realities of my world. In this uncertain context, I developed a deep love and commitment to art and its possibilities. Through painting and sculpture, I tell my own story as well as those of the hundreds of thousands of people who have anonymously perished.
The eight-year-long Iran-Iraq war marked my early years. The Kurdistan Region, in the middle of the two warring countries, was exhausted. I was nearly devoured by the Anfal genocidal campaign against the Kurds near the end of the 1980s. More wars—the Gulf War and a civil war—took hold, and war continues in the Region today.
Questions started to ferment: What can I do as an individual? What can art do? To grapple with these questions, I reconstructed towns razed by war through art-making. I re-imagined towns devastated from recent wars in Iraq and Syria through paint on canvas. My sculptures represent people and are constructed by everyday materials such as newsprint, textiles from loved ones, and safety pins. Each piece draws connections between people's experiences, the places that define them and memories they keep."
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Previously On View at the Harvard Ed Portal
'Re-Constructing a Childhood Memory'
Kamal Ahmad, Mixed media on canvas, 60" x 240", 2019"When I was a child, my dad used to take me to visit Sinjar, a Kurdish city in northern Iraq. Sinjar used to be so beautiful and welcoming. Unfortunately, after ISIS took control of the town, they killed many people and flattened the whole town to the ground. This piece is a reconstructed part of Sinjar based on memories of those visits." – Kamal Ahmad
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Previously On View at the Harvard Ed Portal
'Transient Amnesia'
Kamal Ahmad, Mixed medium (foam mattress, paper, images, fabric), 80" x 80" x 24", 2019"Transient amnesia is an episode of confusion that comes on suddenly in a person who is otherwise alert. The images encasing the foam mattresses are from Mosul city in Northern Iraq, which had a population of 3.7 million before the ISIS invasion from 2014-2019. This piece represents my personal confusions after I saw photos taken in the aftermath of war." – Kamal Ahmad
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Previously On View at the Harvard Ed Portal
'Embrace'
Kamal Ahmad, Mixed medium (foam mattress, paper, images, fabric), 55" x 55" x 24", 2019"The foam mattresses used in this piece are common in some parts of the Middle East. The images printed on these are from Kobanî city in Syria, where many families were sleeping in their homes when their houses collapsed during ISIS's invasion from 2014-2019. This piece represents the story of a family who tried to protect themselves by embracing each other." – Kamal Ahmad
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Previously On View at the Harvard Ed Portal
'Neighbors'
Kamal Ahmad, Mixed medium (foam mattresses, paper, images, plaster, cement), 30" x 12" x 24", 2019"This piece is about living and being next to someone who has been injured and unrecognizable." – Kamal Ahmad
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Previously On View at the Harvard Ed Portal
'Am I still pretty?'
Kamal Ahmad, Mixed medium (foam mattress, paper, images, traditional and local scarf, oil paint), 12" x 12" x 24", 2019"The main material used in this piece is a scarf traditionally used by local women. Many women fled ISIS with their children, even while they were being shot at by ISIS fighters." – Kamal Ahmad
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Previously On View at the Harvard Ed Portal
'Dress Up'
Kamal Ahmad, Mixed medium (foam mattress, paper, images, fabric), 12" x 12" x 24", 2019"The fabric is from my mom; I remember she was so pretty in colorful dress before I couldn't remember her color." – Kamal Ahmad
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Previously On View at the Harvard Ed Portal
'Two Bodies'
Kamal Ahmad, Mixed medium (foam mattress, paper, images, fabric), 12" x 12" x 24" (both), 2019"Standing next to each other, feeling each other's presence, thinking about what we have left to share!" – Kamal Ahmad
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Previously On View at the Harvard Ed Portal
'Nightmare'
Kamal Ahmad, Mixed medium (foam mattress, paper, images, Abaya, fabric, safety pins), 12" x 12" x 24", 2019"One of the thousands of victims of the war was a 16-year-old girl kidnapped by ISIS from the Yezidi religious minority in Iraq. ISIS enslaved her, forced her to change her religion, denied her access to education, demanded she wear abaya, and sexually assaulted her. Culturally, safety pins are used to protect people from nightmares. I use them in this piece to protect her." – Kamal Ahmad
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Previously On View at the Harvard Ed Portal
'Need some Air!'
Kamal Ahmad, Mixed medium (Foam mattress, paper, images, fabric, metal wire & pipe, video, and sound), 12" x 12" x 26", 2019"Trying to find hope while everything has been damaged around you." – Kamal Ahmad
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Previously On View at the Harvard Ed Portal
'He was a part of it'
Kamal Ahmad, Mixed medium (prayer rug, fabric, foam mattress, paper, images, plaster, cement), 12" x 12" x 24", 2019"The main material and object central to this piece is the prayer rug. When ISIS bombarded a city, some inhabitants tried to protect themselves through prayer. After a take-over, many people were found dead on their prayer rugs." – Kamal Ahmad
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Previously On View at the Harvard Ed Portal
'A Backpack'
Kamal Ahmad, Mixed medium (foam mattress, paper, images, fabric), 12" x 12" x 24", 2019"Refugees running away from place to place to be safe, foam mattresses are rolled and turned to backpacks, carrying within them valuables, and memories." – Kamal Ahmad
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Previously On View at the Harvard Ed Portal
'Healing'
Kamal Ahmad, Mixed medium (foam mattress, paper, images, fabric), 12" x 12" x 24", 2019"Bodies healing through unwanted and unchosen memories." – Kamal Ahmad
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Previously On View at the Harvard Ed Portal
'Taking a Shower with the Aleppo Soap'
Kamal Ahmad, Mixed medium (Foam mattress, paper, images, soap), 12" x 12" x 26", 2019"The soap used as a material in this piece is a handmade bar soap associated with the city of Aleppo, Syria. ISIS destroyed the city, and the soap factory, during their invasion. My mom always used this soap on me while I was growing up. I can still smell the beautiful and special scent." – Kamal Ahmad
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Previously On View at the Harvard Ed Portal
'Remembering'
Kamal Ahmad, Fresh apple with cloves, 3" x 3" x 3" (each apple), 2021"Cloved apple in Kurdish culture is a symbol of love and life. We cover the apple with loose cloves and give them to loved ones in our lives. The process of hand-making an apple, putting your heart into it while you place the individual cloves, creates a memory and preserves the apple for over 100 years." – Kamal Ahmad
Meet the Artist
Kamal Ahmad
Kamal Ahmad is an artist, critical thinker, educator, and curator born in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan who lives and works in Boston, Massachusetts. His multi-disciplinary visual artwork—a combination of painting, sculpture, video, printmaking, and design—is inspired by Ahmad's early life and experiences. His work has appeared at galleries and museums including MassMOCA, Boston Sculptors Gallery, MUSA Gallery, and Piano Craft Gallery.
Ahmad is currently the Art & Facilities Director at Artisans Asylum, Curator & Director for Piano Craft Gallery, and a Curator & Art Consultant for Fountain Street Gallery as well as the vice president of New England Sculptors Association.
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His previous work as an educator, art technician, designer, curator, and art consultant took place in many different organizations such as University of Sulaimani, Boston University, MassArt, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and PC Gallery.
Ahmad received his first MFA from Boston University in 2016 and his second MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2019 after completing his BFA from Sulaymaniyah University in Kurdistan in 2010.
About Artisans Asylum
Artisans Asylum is a singular environment for making. It is a 52,000 SF fabrication wonderland where imagination comes alive, and is a place to foster the conditions for freedom of thought, collaboration, and agency necessary for anyone to build the things they’re passionate about. Artisans provides nearly 1,200 members with access to 160 personal studios, 15 shared workshops, and open spaces for collaboration.
Artisans Asylum is open to makers, hobbyists, and creative individuals eager to pursue their passions and connect with like-minded individuals. Their brand new facility in Allston-Brighton is available and accessible to anyone in the community who has a desire to learn, teach, and grow. With access to shops, tools, and software, Artisans strives to make it possible for artists to access their cutting-edge facilities, training, and experiences.
More Resources
Explore Harvard resources below that focus on Middle Eastern studies, refugee trauma, and immigration and refugee advocacy.
The Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University
Established in 1954, Harvard University's Center for Middle Eastern Studies supports research and teaching on a broad range of topics related to the region. At the core of the Center's mandate is the pursuit of firsthand knowledge about the Middle East based on literacy in its languages and understanding of its diverse politics, cultures, and histories.
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Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma
The Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT), originally founded at the Harvard School of Public Health, is a multi-disciplinary program that has been pioneering the health and mental health care of traumatized refugees and civilians in areas of conflict/post-conflict and natural disasters for over two decades. Its clinical program serves as a global model that has been replicated worldwide.
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Immigration and Refugee Advocacy Clinic at Harvard Law School
For over thirty years, the Immigration and Refugee Advocacy Clinic, in partnership with Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS), has sought to advance immigrants’ rights. Law students take the lead in representing low-income immigrants who are fighting deportation and seeking asylum and other forms of humanitarian protection in the United States. Students utilize a range of legal tools on behalf of their clients, including direct representation, impact litigation, policy advocacy, and community outreach.