Nostalgia Exhibition at Dara Global Arts Gallery

Ruby Rawi was among other artists who displayed their artwork at Dara Global Arts Gallery. PBS interviewed her and wrote the article below about the gallery and some of the participating artists.

Uruba “Ruby” Rawi, who came to the United States with her family in 2013 at age 50, is one of the featured painters who sought a platform for her work. She found Dara Global Arts through an Internet search and thought the name “Dara” sounded Iraqi. It turns out she and Elliott [Dara Gallery owner] attended the same high school during different years in Baghdad.

Their shared roots helped Rawi feel more at home. “When you’re a newcomer, you need to gather with people who at least know your background, you feel more comfort until you adjust,” she said.

“In my grandfather’s house, where I lived and grew up, everything was colorful.” Rawi saw beautiful colors everywhere – in the elements during her studies in chemistry and in the rich tones at her aunt’s gallery in Iraq.

But when the war came, “everything started to change. The colors started to fade out and violence darkened our lives.” She switched to humanitarian work to try to help those around her, before coming to the United States when the violence became too much.

“We miss the peace and coexistence (in Iraq), and above all the safety,” Rawi said. Once in the U.S., she wanted to celebrate the colors she remembered. She chose to paint lampshades in jewel tones because she didn’t see anyone else doing it. At her exhibition opening, she wore a turquoise dress, instead of the preferred black outfits of her culture.

You won’t find the color black on her lampshades either, and “no signs of the pain of war. In my artwork, I wanted the people to feel the positivity of beauty of my lovely home country Iraq.”

“She kept telling me, ‘I’m not an artist, it’s just a hobby,’” said Elliott, but Rawi’s show in March drew so many people, they were crunched shoulder-to-shoulder in her basement.

Al Hurra News Channel also covered this event and interviewed Ruby to talk in details about her life and paintings.