ARTIST INFORMATION
Osman K. Ahmed
My Painting and drawing
Its telling a story of my journey, that started ever since I was able to see and witness my nation being ill-treated by the Sadam’s regime. The Anfal was the peak of the atrocity against Kurdish nation. During my journey with my(Peshmerga)Partizan friends in the mountains of Kurdistan, I only had my pencil as my weapon to record the events, there was no cameras to take photographs.
Memory is full of disaster and unbelievable stories from survivors, of my land story that comes from all over Kurdistan, after settling in London started to draw and paint to meditate, to bring the memory out of my head to record, to tell my story every one of these has had story linked with to my journey. A journey that has taken me here today to IWM, among rich collection of evidence of war and genocide against humanity
I was born in Suleimaniyeh, Char Bagh, in 1962. I grew up during the military conflicts, I went to school in Suleimaniyeh, then to Syleimaniyeh’s Institute of Art, graduated in 1985. I lived and taught arts in the regions under control the freedom fighters/Peshmerga, as well as working with the PUK media. In April 1987 I went to Sergalou and Bergalou to attend a meeting of the artists when I became a target of the chemical attacks without knowing its nature; due to my severe condition I had to take refuge in Marghe village, witnessing many victims of the attack with horrible burns all over their bodies while my own body was deteriorating turning black and losing my sight. Later on I managed to escape to get to Qara Dagh; continued teaching arts to village children. In March 1988 I witnessed the Anfal in Bazian, all over Garmian and Qara Dagh until when I managed to escape and get to the PUK Media with the help of freedom fighters; as I had nowhere else to take refuge to, I moved into Saghez in Iran, continued painting and teaching arts; as it also got difficult to stay there I had to go to Syria and as it got hard to stay there I had to go to Russia, still being under constant threat of the Baathists I had to take refuge in Britain where I have been painting/exhibiting my works on the Anfal and studying/researching into how to document the genocide through drawing. My PhD project, Documenting the Kurdish Holocaust: 1988, is concerned with the victims of the attacks in Garmyian, Ghara Dagh, and Halabja, greatly ignored by the world outside.
www.osmankader.com
WHAT IS ART BUFFET 