Christian artists highlight cultural resilience at Ankawa Visual Arts Festival

ANKAWA, Kurdistan Region of Iraq — Under twinkling evening lights and the calm summer air of 30 July 2025, the gardens of the Ankawa Youth Club came alive with color, sculpture, and song as the Directorate General of Syriac Culture and Arts launched the town’s first visual arts festival — a celebration of both Christian artistic heritage and modern expression in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). 

Organized in cooperation with the Shamsha Theater Group, Ankawa Youth Club, and the Ornina Fine Arts Academy, the two-day event brought together artists from Nineveh, Nohadra (Duhok), Arba’ilo (Erbil), and beyond. From traditional oil paintings to contemporary pyrography and sculpture, the festival served as a powerful reminder of the enduring presence and evolving creativity of Iraq’s Christian communities. 

“We open today, with pride, the first visual arts exhibition in Ankawa — as a cry of resilience through art,” said Kaldo Ramzi Oghanna, Director General of Syriac Culture and Arts (Mardutha Suryayta), during his opening remarks. “We must protect the true face of Ankawa. We must remain faithful to its history, its language, its people, and its memory that stretches deep into the past.” 

The open-air exhibit featured an eclectic mix of styles and media. Visitors viewed detailed pyrography works — images burned into wood or paper — alongside carved clay sculptures and modernist paintings rooted in cultural memory and contemporary struggles. It was not merely an art show, but an act of cultural affirmation. 

Farah Ashraf, a young artist from the Nineveh Plains town of Baghdede (Qaraqosh), participated with a series of works in pyrography, metal engraving, and oil painting. “These forms of art require precision, patience, and skill,” she told 964media, reflecting on her experience as a student at the Institute of Fine Arts. “Today was a chance to share my vision with others from across our community.” 

Sculptor Ninos Thabet, who displayed clay and mixed-material works, emphasized the communal nature of the festival. “The Syriac Culture Directorate brought us together from all parts of our community,” he said. “It’s a major occasion, a special chance for us to connect as people, before we connect through our art.” 

Thabet’s sculptures often explore themes of loss, migration, and survival — echoing recent tragedies such as the fire at Al-Haytham Wedding Hall in Bagdede on 26 September 2023, which killed over 100 people and injured more than 200. “Art is a vast world,” Thabet reflected. “Our mission as artists is to reflect what we see in our community.” 

The festival also featured live musical performances by the Ornina Fine Arts Academy, complementing the visual displays with melodies drawn from regional traditions. Crowds of local residents, clergy, public officials, and cultural leaders wandered the grounds, viewing art, exchanging stories, and affirming a shared identity. 

The event underscored a broader effort by Syriac cultural institutions to reclaim public space through art and memory. Amid challenges of migration, marginalization, and recovery from conflict, Christian communities in Iraq have increasingly turned to creative expression as both a healing mechanism and a political statement. 

“Art is how we say: we are still here,” said one attendee. “And we will remain.” 

The festival continues through 31 July, with further performances, workshops, and talks scheduled to engage young artists and preserve the cultural mosaic that defines Ankawa and greater Christian Beth Nahrin (Mesopotamia).