«Striking, immediately understandable… executed with delicate and nuanced style.» AR-Alumna Kholod Hawash’s upcoming exhibition at Turku’s Critical Gallery showcases Hawash’s celebrated textile works. Hawash’s intricate artistry is deeply rooted in the cultural heritage of her homeland, Iraq. Hawash and her partner arrived in Finland in 2019 as AR-Residents.
KHOLOD HAWASH: 10.1.–23.2.2025
Kriittinen Galleria (Critical Gallery), Turku
Opening night: Thursday 9 January, 18:00–20:00
Hawash’s vibrant, hand-stitched textile works transform landscapes, symbols, and narratives from her past into bold allegories of freedom and resilience. Hawash was one of the select artists whose works were displayed at the Artists at Risk Pavilion in Venice last year. Her art has garnered international acclaim – ARS22 at Kiasma, the Nordic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2024), and the Honorary Mention by the State of the ART(ist) Prize. Her works are now part of the collections of Kiasma and EMMA.
Finnish artist Teemu Mäki describes Hawash’s work as striking: “[S]he executes her visual ideas with such a delicate and nuanced style. She uses dazzlingly saturated, often complementary, colors, but also intersperses and juxtaposes them with muted colors or patterned planes, and yet the whole is never muddy, but bursts with life…”
Find out more: kriittinengalleria.fi/en/exhibitions/kholod-hawash