Kholod Hawash

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Kholod Hawash (b. 1977, Basra) is a self-taught textile artist based in Helsinki, Finland. Her work draws inspiration from the cultural heritage of her native Iraq by portraying its landscapes, symbols, and local narratives. Hawash employs the Iraqi textile craft technique of jodaleia, or quilting.

 

The depictions of women as strong and dignified figures in various metaphorical and figurative situations and surrounded by symbols inspired by Sumerian and Babylonian mythology, where female deities represented wisdom and power, dominate Hawash’s oeuvre. While her practice presents a personal dimension and a node to her upbringing and cherished memories from Iraq as well as the stories of the women around her, Hawash also aims to send a political message of women’s liberation through her work. For her, the women’s suffering during wars and conflicts is reflected in the layering of fabric and the required patience for her craft. Every stitch is a mending of a wound, and every piece of fabric is an attempt to conceal a violated memory.

 

Before turning to contemporary art, Hawash was  a children's book illustrator working with a number of publishing houses in Iraq and the larger Arab world. 

 
Hawash was a resident at the Artists at Risk programme in Helsinki in January 2019. She was also an AR Resident at AR-Saari Residency programme funded by the prestigious Kone Foundation in Mynämäki, Finland, as part of the joint Artists at Risk programme with the Saastamoinen Foundation. 
 
Solo Exhibitions
  • Kholod Hawash, Critical Gallery, Turku, Finland, 2025
  • Home Rose, Huuto Gallery, Helsinki, Finland, 2022
  • Sound of the Needle, Porvoo Art Hall, Porvoo, Finland, 2022
  • Intimacy, Lapinlahti Studios, Helsinki, Finland, 2021
  • Kholod Hawash, Dar Al Anda Gallery, Amman, Jordan, 2018
  • Suns, Gallery Beirut, Lebanon, 2016

 

Group Exhibitions

  • Nordic Pavilion, Venice Biennale, 2024
  • Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden, 2024
  • Ars electronica, Linz, Austria, 2023
  • Fragmented Fronts, Catalysti's Annual Exhibition, Technology Museum, Helsinki, Finland, 2022
  • ARS22, Kiasma Museum for Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland, 2022
  • Softy, Helsinki Art Museum, Finland, 2022
  • My Mother's Name, Ars Libera Gallery, Kuopio, Finland, 2020
  • Sequence Motif, Galleria Bässen, Raasepori, Finland, 2020
  • Mass Memory Machine, Rankka Gallery, Helsinki, Finland, 2019
  • From Flood to Flight: Myths, Songs, and Other Stories, Premier Regard Gallery, Paris, France, 2019

 

Grants and Residencies

  • Finnish Cultural Foundation Artist Grant, 2023
  • TAIKE artist grant, 2022
  • Kone Foundation grant, 2021
  • Artists at Risk, Saari Residence, 2019

 

Collections

  • Kiasma Contemporary Art Museum, Helsink, Finland
  • Helsinki Art Museum (HAM), Finland
  • EMMA Museum for Modern and Contemporary Art, Espoo, Finland