Sculpture Collection | Highlights

Muhammed Faris flew as Research Cosmonaut in the Interkosmos program on Soyuz TM3 to the Mir space station in July 1987. He was decorated Hero of the Soviet Union and Order of Lenin. In August 2012, he defected the Syrian Army and fled to Turkey.

Abdulrahman Katanani is a young artist whose work is noted for its intensity in portraying a vivid recollection of stories amassed throughout the years that initially depict the tragedy and hardships endured at the camp. Through his work, he is delivering the campʼs message of resistance and endurance using tools from the camp that resonate happiness, apathy, empathy, tears and joy. Katanani has come to incorporate found objects from the camp such as bottle caps, rags and utensils, with corrugated iron and barbed wire – materials indigenous to the camp’s structure. Some of his more recent work include olive trees that are native to Palestine, rendered in barbed wire; as well as children made from corrugated iron flying kites formed from tin cans.

Corda explains, “When I think of my creations, I imagine them to be weightless” ; this magical impression is also perceived by the spectator, who remains dazzled by the figures which twist themselves into plastic poses.

One way Choucair explored her visual poetry was through the realization of interlocking forms. Both in her paintings and her sculptures, she created biomorphic abstract elements that fit together, sometimes as though previously separated by natural forces, and sometimes as though spooning together like lovers.

One such series she created in the late '70s was called 'Dual'. Some of the individual forms in the Dual series seem almost to evoke the calligraphic marks common in Arabic writing. But they are abstracted and softened in such a way that they also evoke the shapes of creatures, or plants, or even human features snuggling together harmoniously.

Hussein Madi’s iconic style of oversized geometric figures, sensual yet with primal lines also reflects the influence of European modern art masters such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. On the other hand, his structured abstract works, with a timeless aesthetic and a harmony of color and form include the repetition of motifs with rounded edges that draw on the abstract designs of Islamic art.

Sami Mohammad is a Kuwaiti sculptor and artist. He is most known for his bronze sculptures. Most of his artwork deals with the ideas of freedom, oppression, genocide and suffering.

A socially and politically committed artist, Azzawi focuses on human conditions as well as the history and politics of the Arab world. His work is nourished by popular culture and folkloric mythologies, contemporary wars and the violence embedded in the history of Iraq. From Mesopotamian literature to contemporary politics, the artist’s body of work is an artistic response to both the human capacity to build civilizations and to our power of destruction.

Chaouki Choukini is a Paris-based Lebanese sculptor who creates distinctive, multiscalar sculptures in exotic hardwoods and bronze. Born in Lebanon, he studied art at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts.

His sculptures function as windows to his childhood and the landscape of South Lebanon, and architectural foundations abound in the oftentimes detailed nature of sculptures. Tensions between corners, edges and cubist elements, juxtaposed with softly layered biomorphic forms are central to his oeuvre, along with references to Japanese minimalist aesthetics.

Guerrieri's piece provides commentary based around the theme of the "Baby King" a one-child expose which was a huge success in China and Japan. This collection was inspired by her interest in "Jizo" sculptures displayed in Shinto temples in Japan.

This piece from the Soleless series has been produced in response to a 3 month artist residency program, working directly in reintegrating newly arrived Syrian refugee communities into the UK.

From this experience, first-hand accounts and interpersonal exchanges over the perilous passages ventured, stories of separation, loss and every day realities are intimately embroidered on the underside of worn shoes.