Kurdish artist explores resilience through stone-centered art

Shafaq News – Erbil

Kurdish artist Hama Hashem unveiled his latest exhibition, My Memories with Stone, in Erbil on Saturday, presenting a visual exploration of hardship, endurance, and resilience through stone-centered themes.

Hashem told Shafaq News the collection draws from personal experience, with each piece symbolizing the emotional weight and quiet strength embodied by stone.

The exhibit also debuts a technique he calls “stabilization art,” which blends ordinary objects with symbolic imagery to convey layered narratives. “In one piece, I juxtaposed skyscrapers with traditional Kurdish bread pressed between stone blocks,” he explained, illustrating the daily struggle of laborers who risk their lives for a basic living.

Film director Hussein, who attended the opening, praised the collection’s clarity and emotional force, noting to our agency, “The vivid blend of colors gives Hashem’s work a unique and striking visual character.”

My Memories with Stone highlights a rising trend in Kurdish contemporary art—raw, unfiltered narratives focused on labor, marginalization, and human struggle, expressed through bold visual language.