Oriental Gardens is the title of a new exhi­bi­tion of Recent paint­ings (2008-2011) by the renowned London-based Iraqi atist Dia al-Azzawi.

Chandna Roy. “Having grown up in the shadow of polit­ical vio­lence, the events in the Arab world have had a pro­found impact on his work. The horror, pain, trauma and misery of war are strongly reflected in the dis­torted and gloomy faces of many of his ear­lier paint­ings. However, in the past few decades, his paint­ings have become more har­mo­nious and pos­i­tive. A full-time artist, Azzawi has been residing in London for more than 30 years. The long exile has cer­tainly not diluted his pas­sion for his home­land, but even though he remains tied to his soil and its cul­ture, he has also grown new roots to help him find his feet and stand tall among the con­tem­po­rary artists living abroad.”