The Art of Resistance: Defending Academic Freedom since 1933 | Page 120
Sina Ata?Iraqi
ENA (Syrian Refugee series)
2013
Signed artist proof
Framed
Print with Epson
inks on Canson paper
310 gsm
100 x 60 cm
Guide Price £400
Born into a diplomatic family in New York in
1955, Sina had an unusual and historically
compelling entrée into art. Trained as an
engineer (BA in Civil Engineering, University of
Technology, Baghdad in 1977; MA in Building
Management, University of London in 1980) it
was the critical timing of his return to Iraq that
was to radically alter his fate “Two weeks after
I arrived the [Iran/Iraq] war started”.
Drafted into the army and forced to serve five
long years, Sina was overwhelmed by the human
atrocities and injustices he witnessed. To keep
himself sane, he began painting, allowing the
horrors of war to fuel his artistic vision. “It was
therapeutic at first, but then it slowly
developed into a passion and a way of life.”
Twenty years later, Sina has built an
extraordinary international reputation as an
artist. He has participated in group exhibitions
from San Francisco to Cairo and from
Switzerland to Kuwait. His work has been the
subject of one man shows in London, Baghdad,
and Dubai. Now based in Amman, Jordan,
Sina continues to use his heightened awareness
of injustice to inspire his artistic production.
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The Art of Resistance? Defending Academic Freedom
Lot 36