ABOUT THE ARTIST

The paintings of recently relocated artist Alibaba Awrang masterfully fuse Persian calligraphic depictions of poetry with brightly colored images, resulting in contemporary illuminated paintings.

His work is well known in the Eastern world, with exhibitions in Kabul, Tehran, Bahrain, Dubai, Istanbul, Islam Abad, Tajikistan and Melbourne, among others. His recent commission of a large triptych was installed in the fall of 2022 in the entry gallery of the I. M. Pei designed Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar.  At  the pinnacle of his career, Awrang evacuated from Afghanistan in 2021, and is relaunching his career from his new home in Connecticut.

His work is featured in two prominent exhibitions in Connecticut: a sold-out show, From Kabul to Connecticut, in November, 2022, at the Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens in Litchfield County; and a September-November 2023  show, Between the Worlds:  Stories of Artists and Migrations, co-curated by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Munson-Williams Proctor Arts Institute, and the Mattatuck Museum, at the Mattatuck in Waterbury.

“While my work is rooted in ancient tradition, it is a new kind of Islamic art,” explains Awrang, “striving to open a new horizon by connecting the past, present and future through the prism of postmodernism.  I depart from tradition by combining both script and painting. In every maze of my calligraphic work,  there is mystery; and in every turn and twist of its colors, I reflect the human condition.”