تركيب Tarkib

“It’s You Who Can Make a Change”

TARKIB is a platform for the research, training, production, and presentation of contemporary art, creating a space where the pressing questions of our time can be openly formulated and discussed. As a multidisciplinary collective of artists, TARKIB promotes and supports emerging Iraqi artists through artistic exchange, mentorship, production support, and public presentation.

Since 2015, the collective has conceived and implemented the TARKIB Baghdad Contemporary Arts Festival. In 2017, it established Bait Tarkib, the collective's creative center, daily working site, and public cultural venue. Since 2018, TARKIB has developed Baghdad Walk, a workshop-based program that culminates in an exhibition in public space.

At the heart of TARKIB’s work is Bait Tarkib. It is where the collective develops its own artistic projects, supports emerging artists, and builds the structures behind its flagship programs. As a workspace, production site, meeting point, and venue for artistic research, experimentation, training, peer exchange, and presentation, Bait Tarkib plays a central role in nurturing artistic innovation and strengthening Iraq's contemporary art scene.

TARKIB's mission is to introduce and strengthen contemporary art practices in Iraq. Its vision is to contribute to a contemporary cultural identity in Iraq, visualized through artistic expression and directed toward social, cultural, and environmental change.

“Tarkib is bringing new art to Iraq that will change society.”
Dr. Balasim Mohammed (1954–2021)

TARKIB is registered as a non-governmental organization in Iraq under the name Tarkib Organization for Arts and Culture.

Tabi

Visual Artist

TABI entered Tarkib world in 2018 when she was studying at the College of Fine Art. She found something different and started to explore another world of what art can be. Art for her is a tool to express what she feels.

Her early work was characterized by human figures surrounded by a chaos of wires addressing the visual pollution of the city and how it effects unconsciously on humans. Her feelings are deep as her message in each single painting is.

In summer 2020, she developed the character Magrood, a figure in geometric forms, who represents the disadvantaged, the unfortunate and the forgotten who neither give benefit nor cause harm to society or themselves. Magrood is searching, Magrood is watching, Magrood is trying to analyze and understand. Her character Magrood is still surrounded by cables and wires and therefore effected by visual pollution.

TABI (b. 1998) lives and works in Baghdad. In 2020, she graduated from the Visual Art Department, College of Fine Art, Baghdad University.

Jumana Ridha

Visual Artist

Jumana Ridha is painting and drawing since her early childhood and she loves to express her emotions through singing. She did not study art. She studied politics instead. But, she found herself in art. She entered Tarkib early, in 2016. Her first room installation “Khora”, presented on the occasion of 2. TARKIB Baghdad Contemporary Arts Festival 2016, she transferred the visitors into the daily life world of an Iraqi woman. The feelings of Iraqi women are often her inspirations and subjects addressed in her art. Other topics are related to experiences of human beings, because Jumana has the capability of empathy, to feel and read other people without that they are saying words.

Jumana Ridha (b. 1993) lives and works in Baghdad. She graduated from the Political Science Department, Baghdad University, in 2015.

Noor Al Waily

Visual Artist

In her paintings Noor Al Waily focuses on topics that narrates women‘s feelings, their suffering and perception within the community. Her paintings are colourful provided with figurative elements and abstract shapes and lines. One repeating element is a bird‘s peak, which blends gently into the overall composition of her art pieces. The eye is an expression for her to create an attention, to open your eye to happenings around you. She is experimenting with mixed media, but the medium of a painting is the centre of her installations.

Noor Al Waily (b. 1989) graduated from the Visual Department of the College of Fine Arts, Baghdad University, in 2015. Her professor and supervisor was the pioneer Dr. Balasim Mohammed (1958-2021). Since 2017, she is a member of TARKIB. She currently works as an illustrator at Uruk Newspaper.

Hella Mewis

Art Manager

Hella Mewis (b.1971) has a degree in business administration and is a freelance curator and art manager living and working in Baghdad, Iraq since 2012.

In 2015, she founded together with young Iraqi artists the collective TARKIB and since 2017 she is running the group‘s art center BAIT TARKIB as the artistic director.

In 2014, she started her photo series „City Cartography“. She is documenting the architectural environment of the activities she either is organising or attending. Her series are in black and white to underline the eternalness of the moment.

Since the very beginning of her living in Baghdad, she is investigating Iraqi art. Her current research project is art in public space in Baghdad from 1921 until to the present which will merge into an open source map-based online archive.

Hajer Qusay

Filmmaker

Hajer Qusay is a freelance filmmaker. First, she attended the activities of Tarkib as a visitor. In summer 2019, she became a member and presented her video-art „Enforced-Dreams“ on the occasion of „FORB-Collective Exhibition“ in Bait Tarkib.

In her art, be it film, video art, performance or installation, she depicts the feelings and thoughts of women in Iraq, on the one hand. On the other hand she is question social conventions psychology and its effect on each single individual and the Iraqi community in general. She feels she has to talk for others who have not the ability for expression. Her work is an encouragement for women and men to scrutinize and to rehtink.

Atef Al Jaffal

Graphic Designer

Atef Al Jaffal, b. in Baghdad 2000, is a graphic designer, performance artist and sound designer. Since 2018, he is a member of Tarkib and the collective‘s graphic designer and video editor. His works is shaped by an interdisciplinary nature. He often merges his different interests to create something new. His sound composition are playing with design patterns and his designs try to find the ideal composition. His performances are researches, examining psychological experiences and trauma and how to heal these trauma.

Loay Al Hadhary

Sculptor

The sculptor Loay Al Hadhary, b. 1981, lives and works in Baghdad. In 2006, he graduated from the Visual Art Department at the College of Fine Arts, Baghdad University and started to work in Al Iraqia TV Channel. Since 2018, he is a member of the artist collective TARKIB.

Loay Al Hadhary does not follow any mainstream thinking or culture, not in his art, not in his life. He prefers to use unusual materials to create his sculptures such as fiberglas. His figures are representatives of the society mainly from vulnerable and shelterless groups. Therefore, the subjects he is addressing are socio-critical and deep in thinking. Art for Loay is like a life cycle. If he would stop doing it, he would die.

Hussain Al Harbi

Percussionist

Hussain Al Harbi, b. in Baghdad 1997, is a percussionist and plays in different bands since 2018. He believes in the necessity of changing and correcting the social perspective and the bad stereotypes of percussion instruments and their players. Therefore, he founded his own percussion band SANJAT in 2021. Since 2019, he is a member of Tarkib.

Hussam Mohammed

Visual Artist

Hussam Mohammed, b. in Baghdad 1990, graduated from the visual art department at the College of Fine Art, Baghdad University in 2015. Since 2017, he is a member of the artist collective TARKIB and developed his own distinctive style of creating abstract big-size sculptures. He is using rosty iron as the prefered material and is addressing subjects related to psychological diseases within the Iraqi society. The corrosion effect of iron is for Hussam like the effect of a disease on a human being.

Hussain Muttar

Photographer and Writer

Hussain Muttar, b. in Baghdad 1998, graduated as a civil engineer from the Baghdad University in 2021. He currently works as a freelance writer and translator. Since 2017 he follows his passion to city landscape photography and storytelling. His photographs capture the urban development of the city of Baghdad in the last 100 years, investigate the architect‘s contribution in the past, both international and Iraqi architects, and question the current urban planning of the city. His writings take readers on an imaginary journey. His short novels are both fantastic and based on Iraqi natural history.

Zaid Saad

Visual Artist

Zaid Saad, b. in Baghdad 1991, graduated from the visual art department at the College of Fine Art, Baghdad University in 2015. He is a member and one of the founder of the artist collective TARKIB.

Since 2016, he works intermediate and conceptual. His art pieces focus on subjects related to human rights and emigration from Iraq. He is interested in stamp and stencil technics and combines different material. While in his early works he used moving boxes printed with messages in stencil technics, his new discovery is the material concrete to form his abstract sculptures.

Muhaned Taha

Visual Artist

Muhaned Taha, b. in Baghdad 1991, graduated from the visual art department at the College of Fine Art, Baghdad University in 2016. Since 2017, he is a member of the artist collective TARKIB and is since than one of the active members. He attended all activities of TARKIB as both, an artist and a coordinator.

Muhanad Taha is a painter and specialised in big-size murals. Since 2017, he works in conceptual art. Since 2020, he devoted himself to environmental art presented as performance or installation. He is mainly addressing subjects reflecting the symbiosis between nature and human.

Akram Assam

Theater Director, Performer

Akram Assam, b. in Baghdad 1985, received his Master of Arts from Amsterdam University in 2021. He is one of the founding members of the artist collective Tarkib, which is active since 2015.

Akram Assam's main topic in his theatrical work is the investigation of the impact of war and violence on humans. For him, theater is not fun or just a story, theater can convey knowledge and experience to the audience so that they can understand the world around them more profoundly and holistically.

To achieve this, he devised a new method: collecting real memories about himself and others. They are the foundation of the work, but transformed into a fantasy setting through the use of performance, motion, video, photography and most important, his special lighting design.

Mounir Salah

Filmmaker

Mounir Salah, b. in Baghdad 1992, works as a freelance filmmaker. He graduated from the  Cinema and TV department at the College of Fine Art, Baghdad University. He is working in the field of documentary and feature films. His films are questioning social greviances in the Iraqi society such as minors marriage, women‘s and artist rights as well as he is addressing unuttered topics like same sex relationships. He examines the feelings of the people and his own momentary emotions towards situations and events.

He is currently working on his first long-feature documentary film „Searching for the folk philosopher“ about the popular Iraqi singer, poet and monologist Aziz Ali (1910-1995).

Since 2018, he is a member of TARKIB independent artist group and is photo and videodocumenting the collective‘s activities.

Projects

TARKIB Baghdad Contemporary Arts Festival

TARKIB Baghdad Contemporary Arts Festival is Iraq’s only multidisciplinary arts festival. Taking place over four days each year, the festival connects audiences with the city’s contemporary art scene.

At the heart of the festival is its visual arts program: a group exhibition dedicated to new multifaceted installations and conceptual artworks by emerging Iraqi artists. The program focuses on works that blur the boundaries between art and everyday life, explore new socio-cultural spaces, and engage interdisciplinary and interactive approaches. The presented artworks are marked by critical thinking and future-oriented perspectives.

https://issuu.com/tarkibbaghdad/docs/catalogue_tarkib_festival_2026

BAGHDAD WALK Awareness Exhibition in Public Space

BAGHDAD WALK is an annual workshop series in contemporary art and artivism culminating in a group exhibition BAGHDAD WALK with presentations in public spaces across Baghdad.

The program supports emerging artists and activists by providing space, mentorship, and opportunities to present their work. Through artivism, TARKIB empowers young artists to address social, cultural, environmental, and political issues, while strengthening their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

BAGHDAD WALK is a long-term project by TARKIB. It was initiated and implemented in collaboration with the Berlin Institute for Spatial Experiments and the Goethe-Institut Iraq from 2018 to 2021. Between 2022 and 2023, the project was realized in partnership with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Baghdad and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

From 2024 to 2026, BAGHDAD WALK continues as a multi-year grant project supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Baghdad through our fiscal sponsor EMCUE e.V.

www.baghdad-walk.net

BAIT TARKIB Creative Arts Centre Baghdad

Bait Tarkib is Iraq’s one-of-a-kind creative art center dedicated to contemporary art and emerging Iraqi artists. Opened in 2017 and run by the multidisciplinary Tarkib Collective, it functions as a workspace, meeting point, and public cultural venue for artists, researchers, cultural practitioners, and audiences. The space hosts workshops, exhibitions, peer-learning sessions, and community-based artistic activities, providing a flexible environment for artistic learning, production, exchange, and public engagement.

Tarkib Organization for Arts & Culture and its venue, Bait Tarkib, are not state-funded. To sustain the space and cover related operational costs, the collective provides the venue for project activities at a moderate fee.

BAIT TARKIB Goes Green

In 2024, TARKIB launched its flagship project Bait Tarkib Goes Green. The building of Bait Tarkib was constructed in the early 1930s as a residential house. Its architecture reflected social, cultural, economic, and climatic considerations that supported better living conditions at the time.

In solidarity with the history of the place and in dialogue with alternative narratives of sustainable living and working, Bait Tarkib is being developed into a flagship creative art center that exemplifies holistic, sustainable, and environmentally friendly practices. The project creates and showcases strategies for responsible production and consumption.

TARKIB is one of 19 recipients of Anhar: Culture and Climate Platform, initiated by Art Jameel in the UAE and the British Council. The program supports cultural projects that center local, community-based, and intersectional perspectives on the climate emergency in the MENA region.

Art Therapy at Bait Tarkib

Art Therapy at Bait Tarkib is a series of art-based workshops designed to support personal reflection, emotional well-being, and the power of storytelling through visual expression. The project involves holding four workshops offered to Iraqi people in need, culminating in four public presentations. Participants create collaboratively art projects that reflect their journeys towards healing or resistance, allowing them to express themselves in the broader dialogue.

To encourage a broader community each workshop address a specific outcome: Season 1 - AR Poster Creation and Ready-Made Exhibition | Season 2 - Community Theater Performance | Season 3 - Haiku Poetry Photography Exhibition | Season 4 - Sustainable Percussion Recital.

This project is implemented as part of "Strengthening Participation, Peaceful Coexistence and Equality in Iraq", SPACE. SPACE is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. 

Online Archive - Baghdad Art in Public Space 1921 to the present

BAGHDAD ARTS IN PUBLIC SPACE is a multi-phase research project by TARKIB that will culminate in a publicly accessible, map-based online archive. The project documents architectural and visual art achievements in Baghdad over the past 100 years, creating a bilingual record of public art and urban visual culture from 1921 to the present.

The website will feature statues, murals, monuments, architectural landmarks, newly presented art interventions, and sites of demolition or transformation. The archive will show how urban design and public art in Baghdad are connected to, and shaped by, Iraqi art past and present.

Crucially, the project aims to become a reliable resource for Iraqi youth, supporting a deeper understanding of Baghdad’s cultural memory, the significance of engaging with the recent past, and the ongoing search for contemporary identity.

CYCLE - UDHR75 ART EXHIBITION

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), CYCLE presents a model for artistic activism and freedom of expression. The exhibition brings together contemporary works by different artists, including sculptures, installations, augmented reality, narratives, videos, poster designs, photography, and performance.

CYCLE is a collective exhibition and the outcome of a collaborative laboratory in which artists, designers, and cultural practitioners explored specific topics and experimented with different forms of presentation. The process culminated in an exhibition addressing three major themes: Nature, Women, and 2003. These three elements are closely connected; if one link is missing, the cycle breaks down.

CYCLE is both a declaration of intent and an invitation to engage. It unfolds as a space of gathering, where diverse forms of thinking deepen the understanding of what art can be: artivism.

CYCLE is a cooperation between Tarkib Organization for Arts & Culture and the UNAMI Human Rights Office, hosted by the French Institute in Baghdad.

Presented at the French Institute in Baghdad from 23 to 30 November 2023.

Digital catalogue:

https://issuu.com/tarkibbaghdad/docs/cycle_catalogue_issuu_compressed

Our Supporters - The Supporting Act Foundation

The Supporting Act Foundation is committed to creating better opportunities in the arts. It works to carve out spaces for emerging artists, especially those from underrepresented communities, and supports nonprofits that are already doing this work. The Foundation was established by WeTransfer in 2021, with an initial pledge of 1% of WeTransfer's revenue for its first five years to help get the Foundation off the ground.

Through the Foundation's Impact Grant, TARKIB receives the financial resources needed to realize its ambitions. The grant is administered through our fiscal sponsor, EMCUE e.V., a Germany-based non-governmental organization. For the next two years, 2026-2027, TARKIB will receive an annual grant of €25,000.

Our Network - The Creativity Pioneers

TARKIB is part of the 2025 Creativity Pioneers Fund cohort, joining 49 other remarkable creative and cultural organizations from around the world that use creative thinking and practice to address some today's most urgent challenges.

The grant includes not only financial support of €5,000 in 2026, but also access to a vibrant global community for exchange, learning, and mutual support.