Hiwa K
Courtesy Hiwa K, photo by Sarhang Hars
Hiwa K is an Iraqi-Kurdish contemporary artist, born 1975. He currently lives and works in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan. Working with video, performance, and installation, he draws from personal experiences, including family anecdotes, his arts education, and daily encounters and occurrences. Many of his works stress collectivity and participation as part of their development, engaging with and critiquing teaching and learning systems, and exploring how knowledge can be gathered through everyday experience as much as through academic settings.
Hiwa K has recently exhibited his work at Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach (2021); Kunsthalle Mannheim (2019); S.M.A.K. Museum, Ghent (2018); New Museum, New York (2018); and KW Institute of Contemporary Art, Berlin (2017). He has participated in group exhibitions including the 56th Venice Biennale (2015); documenta 14, Kassel (2017); Yinchuan Biennale (2018); Asian Art Biennial, Taipei (2019); Contemporary Art Biennial Sesc_ Videobrasil, São Paulo (2019); Anren Biennale, Sichuan (2019); and MoMA PS1, New York (2019). The artist was awarded the 2019 Hector Prize and, in 2016, the Arnold Bode Prize and the Schering Stiftung Award.
