Alì Assaf Retrospective at MLAC Explores Diaspora and Post-Mediality

Key facts

• First comprehensive retrospective of Alì Assaf, running until May 29 at MLAC, Sapienza University of Rome.
• Curated by Arianna Desideri, covers works from 1973 to 2011.
• Assaf was born in Basra in 1950 and moved to Rome in 1973 to study at the Accademia di Belle Arti.
• He participated in the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011 as artist and commissioner of the Iraq Pavilion.
• The exhibition emphasizes post-mediality, with self-portraits across media including 'Sono ancora vivo' (1991) and 'Narciso' (2010).
• 'I miei vicini' (1982) documents the balcony of neighbors in San Lorenzo, Rome, without showing inhabitants.
• 'Io e loro sotto il primo cielo' (1991) uses Persian rugs from Porta Portese and a fictional family tree.
• 'Saluti da Baghdad' (2003) juxtaposes the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue with portraits of Italian friends.
• 'Al Basrah, the Venice of East' (2010) includes a pyramid of dates with one poisoned side, shown at the 2011 Venice Biennale.
• Assaf was a cultural and political opposition figure against Saddam Hussein in Italy.
• In 1989, he denounced the invisibility of migrant artists in the Italian art system.
• The exhibition inaugurates a new postcolonial research direction at MLAC under director Francesca Gallo.