Maysoon Zaidan AlGburi

The artwork of Iraqi artist Maysoon Al Gburi is a window open onto her deepest thoughts and longings. She uses color and imagination as vehicles for sending potent messages. Her art weaves the beauty and richness of Mesopotamian history with today's harsh reality of human existence.

Maysoon has traveled to most of Iraq's cities. She has explored the main cultural centres of the arabic-speaking world, such as  Damascus, Syria, Amman, Jordan and Rabat, Morocco. After a brief spell in Columbus, Ohio,  she is now settled in Northern Virginia.

Her career as a journalist, her passion for art, and  her long experience as a humanitarian relief worker in war zones have given her the gift of observation and the ability to re-interpret the small details of life around her.

"The tree and the trunk are still rooted in the land of Mesopotamia” she says, "but the branches and leaves sway to the beat of American culture."

Maysoon is an artist by instinct and nature:

"I love life and yearn for peace. Art is my language. Diversity is essential to my being human and central to my art practice. Building bridges across cultural divides, fostering dialogue: this is what pusles through my art"