W3 Gallery is delighted to present Celebrating Sanctuary, featuring work by Dr Amar Sabri Ahmad. Coinciding with Refugee Week, Celebrating Sanctuary presents artwork reflecting a sense of safety, protection and haven.

Dr Amar Sabri Ahmad's artwork draws much from his own experience of growing up in war torn and sanctioned Iraq as it does on the rich history, culture and language of Mesopotamia. Using colour, texture and techniques imitating ancient clay tablets and inscriptions, Dr Ahmad's artwork revisits the importance of Iraq's culture and history by incorporating the neglected Sumerian script in his paintings.

Finding inspiration in one of the earliest civilizations of the Ancient Near East, Dr Ahmad freely illustrates the power of the Sumerian word as 'the residence of the spirit'. These paintings also speak of the limited opportunities, sanctions, battle for life essentials and day to day survival in a modern day, war torn Iraq. But through adversity these paintings retain not only the history of modern day Iraq but Iraq's great history and culture and as language and art capable of bringing people together.

Dr Amar Sabri Ahmad is a a member of the Artists’ Community Freie Münchner und Deutsche Künstlerschaft (FMDK) - Free Munich and German artistic community, and has exhibited widely throughout Germany.

Celebrating Sanctuary is an exhibition curated by Dr Amar Sabri Ahmad. Also featuring the work of artists exploring the Celebrating Sanctuary theme in different mediums.

"I am a self-motivated artist drawing from my life experience of War, sanctions and migration to freely illustrate the power of the underused Sumerian words using colour, texture and special effects.

Being born in Iraq during a difficult period of three wars and sanctions, left most with limited opportunities, being pre-occupied with managing the essentials for life. This has been the history of Iraq since the days of Mesopotamia, distracting the present population from the country’s rich history, inherited culture and language.

I have revisited the importance of Iraq’s culture and history by incorporating the underused Sumerian words in my paintings. With the use of colour and special techniques that imitate the moulding of clay tablets and inscription of letters during the Sumerian era, I have portrayed the principles that I feel strongly about, and that are outlined below.

Sumerian Art is based on the Sumer culture, which is one of the early civilisations of the Ancient Near East, located in the southeast of Iraq." - Dr Amar Sabri Ahmad