Hadani Ditmars

Vancouver

International journalist at Freelance

Architectural Critic at Wallpaper* Magazine

Writer, photo journalist, performing artist

Articles

Iraq's Kurdish Genocide and Three Wars: Artists Osman Ahmed & Fakher Mohammed

1 day ago | themarkaz.org | Hadani Ditmars

A joint Arab/Kurdish exhibition at Baghdad’s The Gallery, showcased how the nation’s “two solitudes” can unite through art. “In a time when maps are redrawn and memory is rewritten, the true homeland is what lives in the soul and identity remains an unbroken thread — regardless of time or shifting borders.” —The Gallery, Baghdad.
‘I feel at home here’: Michael Rakowitz’s Acropolis Museum exhibition locates the lines between stories of lost heritage

1 week ago | theartnewspaper.com | Hadani Ditmars

At the opening of Allspice: Michael Rakowitz and Ancient Cultures in Athens, the Iraqi-American artist Michael Rakowitz stood on a podium, backlit by an illuminated Acropolis. Half of the ancient Greek complex’s treasures are exhibited at the Acropolis Museum, where the exhibition is taking place, but many are missing—some controversially housed instead at the British Museum and other international institutions.
The Arab League summit in Iraq: A missed opportunity

2 weeks ago | newarab.com | Hadani Ditmars

Baghdad, Iraq - In the wake of the Arab League summit in Baghdad, trumpeted as a success by the government and a failure by its critics, it’s hard to tell whether Iraq is booming or imploding, or both. And it depends on who you ask. The 34th Arab League Summit on 17 May focused on the genocide in Gaza, as well as regional conflicts in Sudan, Libya, Yemen, and Lebanon, together with the challenges facing the new government in Syria.
Canada’s art market takes a nationalist turn amid trade war with US

1 month ago | theartnewspaper.com | Hadani Ditmars

At the opening of Riopelle: Crossroads in Time at the Vancouver Art Gallery in mid-March, the philanthropist Michael Audain, who chairs the Jean Paul Riopelle Foundation and is one of the celebrated Quebecois modernist’s most prominent collectors, extolled the late painter as one of “Canada’s greatest artistic heroes”.
Vancouver Opera | Madama Butterfly | Opera Canada

1 month ago | operacanada.ca | Hadani Ditmars

Thanks to new Trumpian realities and a uniformly excellent cast, Vancouver Opera’s season closer Madama Butterfly is a hyper-relevant must see. What can you say about the timeliness of an opera that explores the dark side of American imperial adventures (with “The Star-Spangled Banner” as a leitmotif) that opened a few days before our national election?
Suhaila Tarazi on Gaza’s Al-Ahli Hospital under Israeli attack

1 month ago | newarab.com | Hadani Ditmars

“Many Christians in the West don’t want to know the reality of what is happening here. They have been brainwashed since childhood,” begins Suhaila Tarazi, the director of Gaza’s only Christian-run hospital. Speaking the day after Israeli forces bombed the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City on Palm Sunday, Suhaila adds, “It’s hard to change their minds,” referring to the Christian Zionists who support Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
Wafaa Bilal: ‘I see democracy slowly eroding now’

1 month ago | theartnewspaper.com | Hadani Ditmars

Indulge Me, a survey show devoted to the Iraqi American artist Wafaa Bilal, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (until 19 October), offers up career highlights by the provocative multi-disciplinary artist and timely reflections on the state of democracy in both Iraq and the United States.
Canadian art museum gets $36m funding boost for expansion from provincial government

1 month ago | theartnewspaper.com | Hadani Ditmars

In the midst of trade wars, tariffs, a looming recession and upcoming federal elections, some good news has arrived on the Canadian cultural scene: the provincial government of Ontario will invest up to C$50m ($36m) to expand the McMichael Canadian Art Collection .
Architect Lina Ghotmeh to design Qatar pavilion at Venice Biennale

1 month ago | theartnewspaper.com | Hadani Ditmars |Stephanie Sporn |Chinma Johnson-Nwosu |Lee Cheshire

The architect Lina Ghotmeh has been chosen to design Qatar’s permanent pavilion at the Venice Biennale. The announcement was made last week by Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the chairperson of Qatar Museums. Once completed, the Qatar pavilion, located in the heart of the Giardini della Biennale, will be only the third pavilion added to the historic Giardini in more than 50 years. Ghotmeh has described her practice as an “archaeology of the future”.
‘It’s all about tenderness’: Gazan artist known for her portraits reportedly killed by Israeli airstrike

1 month ago | theartnewspaper.com | Hadani Ditmars |Sarvy Geranpayeh

A young Gazan artist known for her hauntingly beautiful portraits of people killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was herself killed on 12 April by an Israeli airstrike, according to Quds News Network. Dina Khaled Zaurub reportedly died when the strike, on a displaced persons camp located west of Khan Yunis in Southern Gaza, hit the tent where she and her family had taken shelter. She was 22-years-old. Tributes to the artist poured in from around the world.