Rushdi Anwar: A Hope and Peace to End All Hope and Peace

A Hope and Peace to End All Hope and Peace explores the cause and effect of arbitrary lines drawn by foreign powers in their fight to control the “Middle East.” It is an exploration anchored in Rushdi Anwar’s personal experiences and reflections as an indigenous member of Kurdistan, one of the world’s oldest and largest stateless nations.

An avid archivist of political intrigue and its popular souvenir, Rushdi’s artworks are history lessons unlike any sanctioned textbook. His practice focuses on particular historical occurrence, used as lens to extrapolate a broader geopolitical history of recurring violence not only across the “Middle East,” but similarly suffered by countless enforced migrants of conflict globally today.

Three key subjects are central to this solo show. Firstly, the “Sykes-Picot Agreement” of 1916, a colonial document designed by Britain and France that senselessly divided this “Middle East” into a continuing oil-fuelled chaos. Secondly, the human agents that History debates as the champions of Kurdish sovereignty: from Ezidi Mirza (1600-1651), a Yazidis military hero who challenged the Ottoman Empire; Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji (1878-1956), a much-loved “King” and bane of the British Empire’s desire to control Kurdish territory; to Hoshyar Byawelaiy, a Kurd committed to the single-handed demining of Kurdish land today. Thirdly, the mimicry of colonial methodologies of terror—from British propaganda to Saddam Hussein to ISIS campaigns—a landscape suffering mass displacement and destruction that continues to be ravaged by proxy wars and religious extremism.

The sculptures, installations, sounds and moving images in this exhibition investigate these occurrences, embracing such materials as hand-woven rugs, archival photographs and historical texts, brass masonry, colonial carpentry, hand-touched prints, molten-bomb utensils, filmic documentary, historical radio propaganda and more.

The exhibition focuses on the plight of the “Middle East,” understanding the colonial mechanizations that have shaped its current condition are parallel to the history of Southeast Asia, a region that continues to endure the ramifications of the Colonial Empire and its desire to divide, conquer and exploit.

Rushdi Anwar was born in Halabja, Kurdistan region, Iraq. His work reflects on the socio-political issues that continue to mire the geopolitics of what is known as the “Middle East.” Drawing on experiences of displacement, conflict and trauma personally endured under Iraq’s colonial and ideological regimes, Anwar’s art generates discourse concerning the status of social equity—exploring its political, social and religious complexity via study of form and its materiality. His practice recalls the everyday plight of the thousands displaced suffering discrimination and persecution, questioning the possibility of redemption and collective necessity to attend with empathy as a social imperative. Anwar has held solo and group exhibitions in Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Cuba, Finland, France, Japan, Kurdistan, Norway, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, the UK, the US, and Vietnam. He is currently shortlisted for the Artes Mundi 10 Biennial Prize, Cardiff, UK, 2023; with notable recent exhibitions including Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present, Sharjah, 2023; Art in Conflict, Australian War Memorial touring exhibition, various venues, Australia, 2022–2024; wHole, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, 2022; Now, Esta Gallery at The Culture Factory, Sulaymaniyah, 2022; Escape Routes: Bangkok Art Biennale, Bangkok, 2020. He currently lives between Chiang Mai, Melbourne and Sulaymaniyah.

Zoe Butt is a curator and writer. Possessing an extensive exhibition, publishing and public-speaking history globally, in 2022, she founded “in-tangible institute,” seeking a robust ecology for locally-responsive curatorial talent in Southeast Asia. Zoe holds PhD by Published Works, Centre for Research and Education in Art and Media, University of Westminster, London and is currently Lead Advisor (Southeast Asia and Oceania), Kadist Art Foundation.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding, and advisory body. With additional support from Rudaw Media Network, Kurdistan region, Iraq and in-tangible institute, Chiang Mai.

* For more information about public programs, please visit the JTAC website.