Series II: Correspondence
Scope and Contents
This series features a large volume of professional correspondence directed to Rafa Nasiri at his Institute of Fine Arts address in Baghdad, as well as postcards and letters, exchanged with artists, writers, and family members, among them letters Nasiri sent to his father and brothers during his years in Beijing.
II.A. Correspondence with Family
Scope and Contents
Includes letters and postcards exchanged between Nasiri and his father, 1960–1979, and with his brothers, including Sofian Nasiri, Talal Nasiri, Munir Nasiri, and Sabah Nasiri, 1961–1963; letters exchanged between May Muzaffar and Rafa Nasiri, 1973 and 1996, including a set exchanged via Fax during their time in Bahrain, and a set exchanged while in Cairo in 1996.
II.B. Correspondence with Friends, Colleagues, Students, and Institutions
Scope and Contents
Includes letters exchanged with Arab artists, critics, and literary figures including Adonis, Charbel Dagher, Etel Adnan, Farouq Yousef, Fouad Takarli, Ghada al-Samman, Hassouna Mosbahi, Maath Alousi, Nedim Kufi, Nizar Qabbani, Shaker Hassan Al Said, Suad al-Attar, Ferial Ghazoul, Suha Shoman, Ziad Dalloul, and Ismail Fattah. The letters date from the 1970s to 2000s, spanning shifts in geographical location from Baghdad to Amman, Irbid and Manama, back to Amman, and capturing personal and professional news of acquaintances, many of whom were also displaced from Baghdad to Amman then to Europe or to other countries. Letters exchanged from Amman with Nasiri's assistants and former students, many belonging to what is known as the 1980s generation, document their response to the different art academies and art markets of the European cities to which they had to emigrate.
