The exhibition “Mirage City: Baghdad, from Wright to Venturi” has reached Baghdad

Throughout the fall of 2008, Casa Árabe hosted this exhibition, curated by Pedro Azara, at its headquarters in Madrid. Now, with the cooperation of the Embassy of Spain and the Cervantes Institute, it has traveled to the Iraqi capital, where it can be viewed at the headquarters of the Institut Français.

The exhibition provided information on the buildings and architectural projects built (or not built) in Baghdad during the reign of King Faisal II (during the 1950s) and the rule of Saddam Hussein (in the eighties), when some of the most influential architects of the time traveled to the capital of Iraq to give conferences and carry out their work. Some of them are considered the latest examples of the talent of renowned creators, as is the case with Wright and Le Corbusier, whereas others may be considered the last of such manifestations, late works which expressed their style at the end of their lives. At the same time, the exhibition included several large projects conceived during the era of Saddam Hussein, which were significant in the professional careers of Venturi and Bofill. Despite the fact that they never ended up getting built, they reflect a mixture of styles typical of post-Modernism, in which Eastern and Western features are joined together in harmony.

Since it was first opened at the Casa Árabe headquarters in Madrid, this exhibition has been put on display in many different countries, and in collaboration with universities and international institutions in the field of architecture, always thanks to the work to increase awareness carried out by its curator, Pedro Azara, a tenured professor of Aesthetics at the Superior Technical School of Architecture in Barcelona (ETSAB). Pedro Azara has curated important exhibitions on Antiquity and the cultures of the Mediterranean, the most recent of which was “Sumer and the Modern Paradigm” (at the Fundación Joan Miró, Barcelona, 2017-2018). As part of his scientific work, he has taken part in several archeological expeditions in Syria and Iraq.

Nearly eleven years after it was opened in Madrid, the exhibition “Mirage City: Baghdad, from Wright to Venturi” has now reached Baghdad itself, in conjunction with the Embassy of Spain and the Cervantes Institute. It can be seen at the headquarters of the Institut Français.

Exhibition: “Mirage City: Baghdad, from Wright to Venturi”
Directed by: Pedro Azara
Graphic design: Tiziano Schürch
Location: Institut Français d’Iraq (Baghdad)
Production: Embassy of Spain in Iraq (Baghdad) and the Cervantes Institute (Amman)
Photos: Pedro Azara