falah shwan
falah shwan, a kurdish refugee and resident of columbus, exhibited his work in a special benefit for the columbus literacy council.
shwas was born in kirkus located in northern iraq. he studied art at the suleimaniyah fine arts institute and graduated with degree in fine art in 1988. the same year as the bombing of the northern iraq town of halabja which killed thousands of kurds.
shwan and 4 million other kurds fled iraq on foot to iran. they knew saddam’s forces would be brutal so they left with only what they could carry. falah witnessed horrors and atrocities he still has difficulty speaking about. during his family’s escape, falah met his future wife. they sought sanctuary in a safe-area for kurds. two years later, unable to find work, shwan and his new wife moved to syria. in syria, shwan worked as a political cartoonist. his cartoons have been printing in many news publications. shwan uses cartoons as a way of expressing his anger and hurt for the way kurds have been treated in iraq, and his hostility toward saddam hussein’s regime.
“iraq in black and white” is a statement on morality. while some moral issues have a gray area, shwan is commenting on those where the distinction between right and wrong is clear. this is shwan’s first show in the u.s. mahan gallery will be showing a combination of enlarged pen and ink political cartoons as well as paintings, some of which he carried with him during his escape from iraq.
for more information contact:
info@mahangallery.com
