With her “Landmarks of Estrangement” exhibition, the Iraqi artist Afifa Aleiby has finally realized her lifelong dream to display her paintings in Egypt.
The exhibition, which will run until the end of this month, opened on November 7 at the Picasso Art Gallery in Cairo’s Zamalek district. It displays 30 paintings chosen by Aleiby to summarize her long and diverse artistic career.
Afifa Aleiby was born in Basra in southern Iraq in 1953 and started her art studies at Baghdad’s Institute of Fine Arts. She later moved to the Soviet Union to study monumental art in Moscow. After ten years in Russia, Aleiby moved to Italy to continue her studies. She also worked in Yemen before settling in the Netherlands.
Aleiby has participated in art exhibitions around the world. The United Nations acquired one of her paintings, donated by Dutch feminist organizations.
“Since my beginnings, my dream has been to present my works in Cairo,” Aleiby told Al-Fanar Media. “Finally, the dream came true.”