A multidisciplinary artist and musician, Hiwa K moved from Iraq to Germany at the age of 25 where he studied music before returning to his visual art practice. Hiwa K’s works often explore efforts to surpass and challenge national and political borders that besiege and oppress those within them. His work consistently transcends the act of mere documentation, venturing into the political terrain where dissent and refusal unfold. In QATEES (2009), he deals poetically with the notion of refusal as undertaken by the protagonist, Abas, who finds himself in hiding during the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88). Abas is an army deserter and electrician who lives in the liminal space of his underground hideout, gleaning hope and desire from the censored pirated images travelling across borders. His refusal to participate in the war but also his attempts to transcend the political borders he is trapped within connect the histories of Iraq and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) during the Cold War. During the Arab Socialist Baʿath Party’s rule in Iraq, politically supported by the GDR, the government restricted citizens’ media access at the national level.

Work in the exhibition: QATEES (2009), 5-channel-video, installation, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the arist and Collezione La Gaia