Ali Al Tajer

In the late seventies he went on to work as an illustrator for several magazines and newspapers in Iraq.^[1] Eventually he participated in a collective exhibition held for the international Annual Festival of the Child. In 1982 he produced his first animated film for the educational channel on Iraqi state television. Then throughout the eighties he was participating in different exhibitions across the country.^[4]

In 2000, Al Tajer participated in his first international exhibition, in Beirut, and went on to participate in other countries, such as Jordan, Bahrain, and Oman.

Al Tajer's art typically depicts daily urban life in Iraq, featuring customs and traditional aspects of Iraqi culture. Flowers, and particularly roses, are commonly used motifs.^[2] He has cited the painters James Ensor and Marc Chagall as sources of inspiration. In 2015, Al Tajer exhibited a painting series entitled Babylon, which combined moments of day-to-day life in Iraq with symbolic objects and people.^[5][6]

As a researcher, Al Tajer has explored Iraqi folk heritage, as well as the role of ancient myths, human and animal motifs in Iraqi folk art.^[7]