Today’s Google Doodle, an ode to Iraq’s Pioneering Artist Naziha Salim

Google honours pioneering Iraqi painter Naziha Salim through Google Doodle on its Search home page. Celebrating the works of one of the most influential artists on Iraq’s contemporary art canvas, Google highlighted her on April 23, because on this day in 2020 Salim’s work was spotlighted in UAE-based Barjeel Art Foundation’s collection of female artists. 

Salim was born to Iraqi artists parents in Turkey in 1927. Her brother, Jawad, is counted as one of the most prominent sculptors in Iraq. Salim showed interest in arts at an early age. She studied painting in Baghdad Fine Arts Institute. She was one of the first women who were awarded a scholarship to continue her education in Paris at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts.

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“Salim specialised in fresco and mural painting. After graduation, she spent several more years abroad, immersing herself in art and culture,” writes Google in its note on Naziha Salim. 

Today we honour a female artist, educator and author who shone a light on the women around her.
Find out more about Naziha Salim at https://t.co/e7sBxhG8JQ.#GoogleDoodle #WomenWhoInspire #SearchForChange pic.twitter.com/spn6rymjPt

— Google India (@GoogleIndia) April 23, 2022

After spending a few years abroad, she returned to Baghdad and started working at the Fine Arts Institute.

Salim also founded a community of foreign educated artists, called Al-Ruwwad. Her book Iraq: Contemporary Art, tells the story of early development of the country’s modern art movement. Her artwork can be seen at the Sharjah Art Museum and the Modern Art Iraqi Archive.