Hamdan Saray was born in 1975 in Baghdad, Iraq. He lives and works between Baghdad and Brussels. He is a graduate of the Baghdad Academy of Fine Arts. Hamdan Saray is a founding member of The New Academy group and a member of the Iraqi Society of Visual Arts. His creative practice moves between painting and video.
Group exhibitions (Academy of Fine Arts, Baghdad, 1996-2004) Graphic art exhibition (Arts Centre, Baghdad, 2001) Graphic art exhibition (Arts Centre, Baghdad, 2002) Group exhibitions (French Embassy, French Cultural Centre, The Hunting Club, Baghdad, 2003) Group exhibitions (Governing Council, Akkad hall, Al Jawahery Festival, Sumer Hall, Baghdad, 2004) Performance (painting and poetry) with Majid Matroud and Zuher Al Jobory (Centre Culturel Arabe, Brussels, 2005) Performance (painting, poetry, and music) with Majid Matroud and Jaafer Al Khafaf (Moussem, Antwerp, 2007) Second Prize in the VII Mariana Pineda Competition (F.A.S.A.B, Brussels, 2010).
In 2014, Hamdan Saray co-founded the painting duo Kalām كـلم with Vicky Dyé. Kalām كـلم places exchange at the center of its concerns and questions the relationship with the other by navigating public and private spaces.
In 2017, Kalām كـلم created a work during a residency in Grande-Synthe, France. In November of the same year, the tandem surrounded by friends launched the action, “Il était une fois, dehors …” (Once upon a time, outside…).
In 2018, Hamdan Saray presented Kalām كـلم through a workshop with students at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kut, Iraq. Kalām كـلم participated in the group exhibition “Je me retrouvai par une forêt obscure” curated by Amélie Adamo at Chamalot-Paris (Paris, France).
In 2019, Kalām كـلم launched the cycle “Il était une fois, chez toi … بـيتك فـي ،كـان يـامـا كـان) “Once upon a time, at your place…) in Brussels, Belgium. These exhibitions took place in the heart of living spaces curated by each inhabitant. Kalām كـلم participated in the group exhibitions “Îlots” at Citygate Studio, and then “MAOW” at LaVallée. During the Pancretan Street Art Festival, the two artists created a large twelve-meter mural in the streets of Heraklion, Crete.
In 2021, Hamdan Saray presented “Memories of a Mechanical Eye” a solo exhibition at the Bronze Gallery in Baghdad.
