At a book launch event held at the AUB Archaeological Museum, the American University of Beirut Press (AUB Press) celebrated the publication of The Turn to the Environment, a seminal new volume showcasing the artistic journey of renowned Iraqi artist Hanaa Malallah. This work is the inaugural title in the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Series on Art in the Arab and Islamic Worlds, a newly launched AUB Press series dedicated to critical studies of artistic practices and histories across the region. The series marks a significant initiative to foreground and preserve scholarship on Middle Eastern and Islamic art, with Malallah’s book setting the tone for its scope and ambition.
The volume brings together, for the first time, a comprehensive collection of theoretical texts that Malallah authored throughout the 1990s—a decade marked by war, sanctions, and cultural isolation in Iraq. These writings provide an exceptional window into her evolving artistic methodology and the broader intellectual landscape of Iraqi art during a period of profound hardship. By gathering her essays and reflections from that era, The Turn to the Environment offers readers direct insight into how an artist sustains and theorizes creative practice under extreme conditions.
Malallah’s writings trace a notable shift in her focus over time. In the late 1980s, she frequently visited the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, sketching archaeological artifacts to explore their temporal resonance—the way objects can belong to the distant past yet persist in the present. After the 1991 Gulf War, as the museum closed and Iraq became increasingly isolated, Malallah turned to Baghdad itself as a “living field of material traces,” treating the urban environment as an artifact to be examined and reimagined. From this period emerged her signature technique of constructing art panels from found and salvaged materials, embedding within them what she describes as a coded language of time and memory.
The collected texts also reveal her intellectual evolution from engaging with physical ruins to probing more abstract questions of signs, meaning, and the logic of art. Her later writings reflect a deep inquiry into semiotics—a trajectory that revisits a central debate in modern Iraqi art about the relationship between contemporary artistic expression and historical artifacts. In doing so, Malallah bridges Iraq’s ancient cultural heritage with modern artistic practice, articulating a continuity of symbolism and purpose that links archaeological memory to the present-day canvas.
The launch event at the AUB Archaeological Museum brought these themes into focus through a public conversation with the artist. Hanaa Malallah was joined by Dr. Saleem al-Bahloly, the volume’s editor and author of its introduction, who contextualized her writings within her broader artistic oeuvre and the history of modern art in Iraq. Together, they reflected on how The Turn to the Environment came into being and discussed the role of writing in Malallah’s practice, particularly as a means of documenting and theorizing art during times of crisis. The museum setting, surrounded by artifacts of the region’s deep history, provided a resonant backdrop to a discussion centered on archaeology, environment, and artistic creation.
As the inaugural publication of the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan art series, The Turn to the Environment affirms AUB Press’s commitment to advancing scholarship on art in the Arab and Islamic worlds. The new series will continue to bring forward critical perspectives and underrepresented voices, enriching discourse on regional art history and reinforcing AUB’s role as a center for cultural and intellectual exchange. The success of Malallah’s book launch—blending scholarly insight with vibrant public engagement—signals a promising beginning for the series and for future works that aim to illuminate the artistic heritage of the region for global audiences.
About AUB
Founded in 1866, the American University of Beirut bases its educational philosophy, standards, and practices on the American liberal arts model of higher education. A teaching-centered research university, AUB has more than 790 full-time faculty members and a student body of over 9000 students. AUB currently offers more than 140 programs leading to bachelor’s, master’s, MD, and PhD degrees. It provides medical education and training to students from throughout the region at its Medical Center that includes a full-service 365-bed hospital.
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