Rawan Almukhtar
Rawan Almukhtar is mentee of Pieternel Vermoortel.
Rawan Almukhtar, born 1991 in Baghdad, is a fine artist, painter, and political activist. He studied Conceptual Art at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (2024) and Painting at the University of Fine Arts in Baghdad (2015).
Almukhtar’s work is heavily influenced by transitions and transitional phenomena. His practice begins from the experiences of his own body, shaped by forced migration, imposed gender roles, and being a witness to various cycles of war and occupation. He observes and documents vulnerabilities, collective resistance, and social movements in order to create opportunities not just for seeing, but for witnessing. His aim is to archive what resists invisibility and to establish new archives that document collective forms of resistance.
In 2024, Almukhtar received the Kunsthalle Wien Preis. He was nominated for the Belvedere Art Award in 2022 and 2024, and was shortlisted for the Exile Visual Arts Award of the Körber Foundation in Berlin in 2023.