Hanaa Malallah Collection

Call Number

AD.MC.095

Date

1978-2013, inclusive

Creator

Extent

2066 Items

Total number of objects: 2066 items 360 items were gifted to al Mawrid (physical acquisition) and 1706 items were loaned (digital acquisition). All collection items, including the physical acquisition items, have been digitized.

Physical Description

The materials were received in good condition, enabling the digitization at al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art, NYUAD. Digital surrogates were created for all collection items. Upon digitization, all digital acquisition materials were returned to the artist. The materials gifted by the artist to al Mawrid were arranged, labeled, and rehoused in archival enclosures.

Language of Materials

Arabic , English , French , German .

Abstract

Hanaa Malallah is an Iraqi artist, researcher, and educator based in Hull, UK. Between 1976 and 1983, Malallah worked as an illustrator with the Iraqi children's magazine, Majallati. She was then recruited to illustrate a weekly column for al-Jumhuriya newspaper, remaining in that post until 1989. In 1988, Malallah graduated with a BA in Painting from the College of Fine Arts, Baghdad, where she specialized in oil painting. She received an MA in Painting from Baghdad University in 2000. She completed her PhD from the same institution in 2005, developing a theory of painting based on symbolic logic. Malallah held numerous teaching positions, residencies, and fellowships between the 1990's and the present, exhibiting widely throughout her career. The collection comprises exhibition materials, price lists, photographs, and press clippings documenting the work of Hanaa Malallah and her contemporaries, primarily in Iraq and Jordan, from the 1980s to the early 2000s. The collection also includes clippings of newspaper articles illustrated by Malallah. The personal documents and writings by Malallah and her colleague and former teacher, Shakir Hassan Al Said, are noteworthy as they provide insight into their art practice and the theoretical discourse and analysis that guided their art. The Writings series features a draft of Malallah's PhD dissertation, along with extensive notes and essays by Al Said. Additionally, the collection contains publications by art and cultural organizations and miscellaneous materials, such as empty postcards and copies of artist's books created by Ghassan Ghaib addressed to Hanaa Malallah in 2002 and 2003.

Biographical Note

Hanaa Malallah Hanaa Malallah was born in 1958 in Nasiriyah, a city in the south of Iraq located near the Ur archaeological site. As a child, Malallah's family moved from Nasiriyah to Baghdad where she continued her education. At 15, Malallah enrolled in a 5-year program at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad, earning a diploma in Graphic Arts in 1979. She received a general education in art practice during her first three years in the program, including training in painting, drawing, printmaking, and Art History. During her final two years, she specialized in printmaking under the tutelage of Rafa Nasiri, an artist and teacher who had recently established the Graphic Arts department in 1974. In 1976, Malallah began working as an illustrator for one of the first illustrated children's magazines in the Arab world, Majallati, published from Iraq, to afford her art supplies and continued in that position until 1983. She also designed thirteen children's books for which she was awarded a prize by UNESCO in 1985. In 1983, Malallah was recruited by Sami Mahdi, the editor of al-Jumhuriya newspaper, to illustrate a weekly literary column written by Hatim al-Sakr, entitled "[Sketches in Pencil,]" published every Thursday between 1983 and 1989. Soldiers on the frontlines of the Iran-Iraq War sent letters to the newspaper expressing their appreciation for the illustrations. In 1987, she had her first solo show at al-Riwaq Gallery where she exhibited a selection of her original illustrations for "[Sketches in Pencil.]" In 1988, Malallah earned her BA in Oil Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad and, after participating in multiple group exhibitions, held her second solo exhibition in 1991. The exhibition, "[Documents from a Visit to the Museum,]" showed work she produced as part of her study of archaeological artifacts at the Iraqi National Museum. The museum would close that year due to extensive damage sustained during the Gulf War. In the same year, Malallah participated in the eighth Wasiti festival and exhibition and was awarded the first prize in painting for her depiction of the Warka Vase.

Between 1993 and 1995, Malallah was a member of the Society for Aesthetic Studies, a group of artists, writers, and scholars who met weekly on Tuesdays to lecture on different topics related to the plastic arts. The group was formalized by Shakir Hassan Al Said – Malallah's colleague and former Art History teacher at the Institute of Fine Arts – after he noticed the natural congregation of like-minded individuals at the cafeteria of the Saddam Arts Center where he worked as part of the Ministry of Culture. The Society distributed the free bulletin, al-Wasiti, that published essays on aesthetics and the art scene. Malallah was on al-Wasiti's editorial board alongside Shakir Hassan Al-Said, Hatim Al-Sakr, Farouk Yousif, and Mahasin Abdelqader, among others. In 2000, Malallah received her MA in painting from the University of Baghdad where she cultivated a theoretical approach to ancient artifacts which favored their role as interpretive signs and symbols. She developed her theoretical perspective in her doctoral thesis, "[Logic Order in Ancient Mesopotamian Painting,]" which she wrote under the supervision of artist Sa'ad al-Ta`i, professor of aesthetic studies Najim Haidar, and two philosophers. She was awarded her doctorate in the Philosophy of Painting from the University of Baghdad in 2005 and taught at the university until her departure in 2006.

In 2006, Malallah received an invitation from the head of the Department of Contemporary Art and Photography at the Institut du Monde Arabe to participate in their artist residency program in Paris. Her residency was followed by fellowships at the School of Oriental and African Studies and the Chelsea College of Art in London, and a teaching post at the Royal University for Women in Bahrain.

Malallah is said to belong to the Eighties Generation, a term coined by art critics for a group of ten young artists who exhibited together at a show organized by the Department of Plastic Arts at the Saddam Art Center in Baghdad. The Eighties Generation referred to artists whose creative upbringing coincided with two wars – the Iran-Iraq War between 1980 and 1988; and the Gulf War between 1990 and 1991. Under the conditions of war, emerging artists could not travel abroad to train, as the prominent artists of the previous generation had done. The isolation from the international art community is partly what led Malallah to return to her Mesopotamian heritage for aesthetic and conceptual inspiration.

Malallah currently works and resides in Hull, UK.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in the following series: (I) Exhibition Materials, 1978-2006; (II) Press Clippings; (III) Illustrations; (IV) Correspondence and Personal Papers; (V) Writings (Published and Unpublished); (VI) Publications by Art and Cultural Institutions; (VII) Photographic Material; (VIII) Other Items in the Possession of the Artist. The materials in each series are divided by type or decade and then arranged chronologically within subseries.

Scope and Contents

The Hanaa Malallah Collection comprises a diverse array of materials, including exhibition materials, press clippings, illustrations, personal papers, correspondence, and writings, which offer a comprehensive perspective on Hanaa Malallah's multifaceted and international career as an artist, researcher, and art educator. Ranging between the 1980s and the 2000s, the collection illuminates Malallah's artistic endeavors, contextualizing her work within significant events and exhibitions primarily in Iraq and Jordan. The Hanaa Malallah Collection includes exhibition materials, such as invitations, brochures, and catalogs, collected from Malallah's exhibitions and those of her contemporaries. The collection also comprises clippings of art criticism, exhibitions and event coverage, and interviews published in newspapers between the 1990s and the 2000s. The collection documents Malallah's career as an illustrator, including clippings of her newspaper and magazine illustrations, and sketches and storyboards of her contributions to children's books. Malallah's illustrations of Hatim al-Sakr's weekly literary column, entitled "[Sketches in Pencil]", are well-represented in the collection and inform her connection to Baghdad's literary sphere in the 1980s. A set of children's books, some of which were illustrated by Malallah and published in Iraq between the 1970s and the 1980s, are also included. In addition to exhibition materials and press clippings, the collection contains personal papers such as receipts, contracts, certificates, and correspondence with art organizations, fellow artists, and colleagues. Clippings of published articles and drafts of essays authored by Hanaa Malallah, Shaker Hassan Al Said, and others are represented in the collection. Notably, the collection houses a handwritten draft of Malallah's PhD dissertation from the University of Baghdad and multiple copies of her book "[Baghdad: Geography, People, and Signals]" published in 1993. The collection includes fine art periodicals, such as a set of nine issues of al-Wasiti Journal published in Iraq, for which Hanaa Malallah published several articles and served as a member of the editorial board. Additionally, the July 2000 issue of the journal Tashkeel, published monthly by the Yemeni Syndicate of Fine Artists, is included. Photographs documenting art exhibitions, personal travels, and Malallah's artwork are in the collection. It also contains miscellaneous materials, such as empty postcards and copies of two artists' books by Ghassan Ghaib addressed to Hanaa Malallah in 2002 and 2003. Materials in the collection are mostly in Arabic, with some in English, French, and German.

Subjects

Organizations

Institute of Fine Arts (Baghdad, Iraq); Iraqi Cultural Centre (London, England); al-Jumhuriya; Majallatī (Baghdad, Iraq); al-Wasiti

People

Shakir Hassan Al Said (Role: Artist); Hatim al-Sakr (Role: Author)

Topics

Art -- Arab countries; Art, Arab -- 20th century; Art--Arab countries--20th century--Exhibitions; Art, Iraqi; Art criticism--Arab countries.; Painting, Iraqi; Illustrated children's books; Illustrated periodicals; Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988; Iraq War, 2003-2011; Illustrators

Places

Baghdad (Iraq); Amman (Jordan)

Conditions Governing Access

Digital surrogates only are held by the repository. Based on the agreement with the owner, digital images of selected series/subseries will be publicly available on the NYU Archival Collections Finding Aid Portal. Materials not made available online may be consulted in person at al Mawrid, NYUAD. Researchers should contact nyuad.almawrid@nyu.edu to request details or to make an appointment.

Conditions Governing Use

Intellectual property rights for the Hanaa Malallah collection remain with the artist. al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art does not hold any legal rights over the content of its collections, and therefore cannot grant legal rights to anyone who wishes to publish material. Copyright status has not been determined for all collection items. It is the responsibility of the researcher to clear the rights from the respective copyright holders. All use permissions must be sought from the artist through a request submitted to al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art at nyuad.almawrid@nyu.edu.

Preferred Citation

Title or identification of item, date when known, Hanaa Malallah Collection, ADMC095, item identifier (Ref. number). Arab Art Archive, al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art, New York University Abu Dhabi.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The collection was brought to al Mawrid at NYUAD by the artist. Some materials were gifted to al Mawrid, while the rest were digitized at the Center and returned to the artist. A part of the collection was digitized by al Mawrid's team at the artist's studio in Hull, UK.

Custodial History

The papers present with the artist in her studio-home in Hull, UK, consist of two sets of material: (1) the artist's exhibition files, sketches, writings, and illustrations which she collected herself throughout the 1980s and 1990s in Baghdad, and (2) documents, letters, studies and journals by Shakir Hassan Al Said that Al Said gave to Malallah in the 1990s.

The material was brought to London from Baghdad over the course of several trips: some catalogs and photographs were mailed by the artist's sister Sanah in 2008; a friend of the artist, Nadia Falayih Hassan, mailed the artist's original illustrations for Majallati and al-Jumhuriya as well as an assortment of newspaper clippings, in 2014; the artist herself brought back material during trips to Baghdad in 2015 and 2018.

In September 2021, the material was then moved to Hull. At the time of assessment, the children's illustrations, signed artworks, research drawings, and photographs were stored in the artist's first-floor office; the illustrations published in al-Jumhuriya were kept on the third floor, in the artist's loft-studio, in the original boxes in which they had been shipped from Baghdad.

The artist's remaining papers in Baghdad were divided between the artist's studio, her sister's home, and the home of Nadia Falayih Hassan. When the artist first left Iraq in 2006 for a residency in Paris, she had left all her papers in her home and studio. As the security situation deteriorated into civil war in 2007, she asked her sister to remove some of her papers from her home, and she asked her friend Nadia Hassan to do the same for material in her studio. The artist herself retrieved some of that material during a trip to Baghdad in May 2022.

Bibliography

1. Āl Saʿīd, Shākir Ḥasan, and Hanaa' Malallah. This Green is Not Green: Letters Between Shakir Hassan Al Sa'id and Hanaa Malallah. London: Struktur Editions, 2021.

2. Eleey, Peter, and Ruba Katrib, eds. Theater of Operations: The Gulf Wars 1991-2011. Long Island City, New York: MoMA PS1, 2019.

3. Faraj, Maysaloun. Strokes of Genius: Contemporary Iraqi Art. London: Saqi Books, 2001.

4. Malallah, Hanaa. Hanaa Malallah: 5.50.1.1.40.1.30.1.30.30.5. London: Struktur Editions, 2018.

5. —. "Coexistent ruins: Exploring Iraq's Mesopotamian past through contemporary art." Journal of Contemporary Iraq & the Arab World 15, no. 1-2 (2021): 221-238.

6. Malallah, Hanaa, kennardphillipps, and A. M. Qattam Foundation. Iraq: how, where, for whom? = Al-Irāq: kayfa, ayna, li-man? London: AM Qattam Foundation; London: The Mosaic Rooms, 2012.

7. Malallah, Hanaa, and Christa Paula. She/he has no picture. London: Struktur Design, 2019.

8. Malallah, Hanaa, Joe Start, Nada M. Shabout, and Gallery Park. From figuration to abstraction: Hanaa Malallah. London: The Park Gallery London, 2017

9. Platt, Susan Noyes. Art and Politics Now: Cultural Activism in a Time of Crisis. New York: Midmarch Arts Press, 2011.

10. Schroth, Mary Angela, ed. Longing for Eternity: One Century of Modern and Contemporary Iraqi Art: From the Hussain Ali Harba Family Collection. Milan, Italy: Skira, 2013.

11. Shabout, Nada. "In Between, Fragmented and Disoriented Art Making in Iraq." Middle East Report, no. 263 (2012): 38–43. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41702560

12. —. "The 'Free' Art of Occupation: Images for a 'New' Iraq." Arab Studies Quarterly 28, no. 3/4 (2006): 41–53. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41858535.

Collection processed by

The finding aid was prepared by Ibrahim Mohamed Ali, Maysa Shaer, Saleem Al-Bahloly, Anneka Lenssen, Jasmine Soliman, and Salwa Mikdadi for al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art, NYUAD

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-09-18 11:22:17 +0400.

Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Language: The description of the collection was created in both English and Arabic. The Arabic description is under revision. A link to the Arabic description will be added to the finding aid once the revision is complete

Processing Information

Processed by the team at al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art, 2022–2024, including Ibrahim Mohamed Ali, Maysa Shaer, Saleem Al-Bahloly, Jonathan Burr, and Jasmine Soliman. The organization of the materials is based on an initial arrangement created by Hanaa Malallah, with some further arrangements by members of al Mawrid where needed.

Arab Art Archive finding aids are prepared in both English and Arabic. Researchers seeking to confirm the Arabic spelling of an artist's name are encouraged to consult the Arabic finding aid. In the English-language finding aids, transliterations of Arabic names are guided by al Mawrid policy to use the artist's preferred professional spelling whenever possible. Spellings are checked against artist websites or social media presence (when existent) as well as any available government documents such as a passport or ID. In the case when no such primary documents may be found, spellings are checked with the Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF) and Subject Headings (LCSH); academic sources such as Modern Art in the Arab World: Primary Documents; Getty Vocabularies / Union List of Artist Names; and in some cases Mathaf Encyclopedia of Modern Art and the Arab World. Al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art maintains an internal Name Standardization Reference List with notes about authoritative sources.

Rather than transliterate Arabic-language titles of documents for the English-language finding aid, it was decided for consistency and ease to translate Arabic titles, as well as titles in other languages, into English. Translated titles and phrases are placed inside square brackets.

Repository

al Mawrid Arab Art Archive, NYU Abu Dhabi

Container

E-records: AD_MC_095 (Material Type: Digital Objects)