Google Celebrates Iraqi Contemporary Art Genius Naziha Salim With A Doodle

Nazhia Salim was born into a family of Iraqi artists in Istanbul, Turkey.

Google celebrates Iraqi contemporary art genius Naziha Salim with a doodle today. On this day in 2020, the painter-professor, described as “one of the most influential artists in Iraq’s contemporary art scene”, was spotlighted by the Barjeel Art Foundation in their collection of female artists, Google said.

“Her work often depicts rural Iraqi women and peasant life through bold brush strokes and vivid colors,” it said. “Today’s Doodle artwork is an ode to Salim’s painting style and a celebration of her long standing contributions to the art world!”

Salim was born into a family of Iraqi artists in Istanbul, Turkey in 1927. Her father was a painter and her mother was an embroidery artist. She had three brothers all of whom worked in the arts. Jawad Salim, one of the brothers, is considered one of Iraq’s most influential sculptors.

Naziha Salim studied at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris on scholarship after her graduation with distinction from the Baghdad Fine Arts Institute. She specialised in fresco and mural painting while in Paris.

She returned to Baghdad after spending several years abroad and taught at the Fine Arts Institute until she retired. Salim was also one of the founding members of Al-Ruwwad, an artists’ community that study abroad and incorporate art techniques into the Iraqi aesthetic.

She authored “Iraq: Contemporary Art” which focuses on the early development of Iraq’s modern art movement. Her artwork hangs at the Sharjah Art Museum and the Modern Art Iraqi Archive.