ArtRole is a UK based contemporary arts organisation that was founded in 2004 by British artist of Kurdish-Iraqi origin, Adalet R. Garmiany, to develop an international cultural exchange with the Middle East through a programme of visits, exhibitions, performances, seminars, conferences, workshops and residencies. ArtRole strongly believes that it can support Iraq through art and art education.
ArtRole's main aims are to:
• build a cultural bridge between the UK and the Middle East through contemporary art events with the intention of bringing about mutual understanding and public awareness
• develop an artists' network and exchange programme between these countries that provide opportunities for artists to travel and develop new work
• establish a core programme of cross-cultural art activity between the UK and the Middle East comprising artist exchanges, residencies, seminars presentations and productions within both regions
ArtRole has successfully organised and delivered an artist exchange programme and related educational activities between the UK, America and Iraq-Kurdistan. ArtRole now looks to establish a regular art and art education programme with existing and new partners and to widen its remit to include activities with Iran and Lebanon. As part of this, ArtRole is exploring ways of stabilizing company activity through revenue support and appropriate legal and management structures.
ArtRole's members are Adalet R.Garmiany (artist, musician and curator), Justine Blau (artist, lecturer) and Mark Terry (photographer, lecturer) in the UK.
Iraq-Kurdistan representatives:
Erbil Hemin Hamid (artist, director and lecturer)
Serbest Raza (film-maker, director, editor)
Sulaymanyah:
Shaho Abdul Rahman (artist, designer)
Reben Majeed (artist, curator)
ArtRole is a non-profit organisation