EDUCATION
2016 - Doctor of Philosophy in Fine Art, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
2010 - Master of Fine Art, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
2006 - Diploma of Graphic Design, Enmore Design Centre, Sydney Institute, Australia.
1992 - Diploma of Civil Engineering and Draftsmanship, Institute of Kirkuk, Kurdistan-Iraq.
PROFILE
Rushdi Anwar is a Kurdish-Australian artist, researcher, and educator whose interdisciplinary practice examines memory, displacement, statelessness, colonial legacies, borders, conflict, and resilience. Working across installation, sculpture, painting, photography, video, sound, and archival materials, he develops research-led projects that address trauma, belonging, historical violence, and the afterlives of war.
He completed a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Fine Art in 2016 and a Master of Fine Art (MFA) in 2010 at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in the School of Art, Faculty of Fine Arts, Chiang Mai University, where his teaching and supervision support contemporary art practice, painting, mixed media, and creative-practice research.
His work has been presented internationally at major museums, biennials, and art institutions, including Sharjah Biennial 15, Artes Mundi 10, Bangkok Art Biennale, The National 2019, the 13th Havana Biennial, and the 12th Gwangju Biennale. His works are held in public and private collections including Sharjah Art Foundation, Art Gallery of New South Wales, KADIST Foundation, MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, and the Australian War Memorial.
RESEARCH AND CREATIVE PRACTICE AREAS
Contemporary art practice; installation and mixed media; painting and expanded painting; material and form in contemporary art; the relationship between material, meaning, and socio-political context; transformative material processes; photography and archival practice; memory and trauma studies; postcolonial and decolonial studies; socially engaged art; displacement studies; visual culture; contemporary art theory; creative-practice research.
CURRENT ACADEMIC APPOINTMENT
Senior Lecturer - School of Art, Faculty of Fine Arts, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. Department of Visual Arts (Painting Program).
TEACHING, SUPERVISION AND ACADEMIC CONTRIBUTION
• Teaches across contemporary art practice, painting, mixed media, installation, material experimentation, and creative-practice research.<
• Supervises MFA, with emphasis on research-led practice, critical inquiry, studio methodologies, and the relationship between form, material, context, and meaning.
• Contributes to curriculum development and academic activities within the School of Art and Faculty of Fine Arts, including studio teaching, postgraduate mentoring, critique, assessment, workshops, and professional practice guidance.
• Supports students in developing independent artistic languages informed by contemporary art theory, visual culture, research methods, and international exhibition contexts.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 - Endless Tears in the Garden of Eden, AB-ANBAR Gallery, London, United Kingdom.
2024 - Endless War in the Garden of Eden, De-Thomas, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
2023-2024 - A Hope and Peace to End All Hope and Peace, Jim Thompson Art Center, Bangkok, Thailand.
2019 - We Have Found in the Ashes What We Have Lost in the Fire, MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
2018 - The Patterns of Displacement, Incinerator Gallery, Melbourne, Australia.
SELECTED INTERNATIONAL AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 - Image Keepers: Photographic Works from the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection, Sharjah Art Foundation, United Arab Emirates.
2025 - Seeds of Hope and Hate, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom.
2025 - Sanctuary Summit, Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin, Australia.
2024 - Home and the World, Museum Van Loon, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
2024 - Out of Place, Gallerie delle Prigioni, Treviso, Italy.
2023 - Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present, Sharjah Art Foundation, United Arab Emirates.
2023- Artes Mundi 10, National Museum Cardiff, United Kingdom.
2020 - Bangkok Art Biennale: Escape Routes, Bangkok, Thailand.
2019 - The National 2019: New Australian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
2019 - 13th Havana Biennial, Havana, Cuba.
2018 - 12th Gwangju Biennale: Imagined Borders, Gwangju, South Korea.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AND WRITING
2025 - Anwar, Rushdi. “Assembling Erasures: On Borders, Photos and Colonial Cartography.” Trigger 6: Assemblies, FOMU, Antwerp.
2022 - Anwar, Rushdi. “One on One: Rushdi Anwar on Mulla Sadra Shirazi.” ArtAsiaPacific, Issue 129, July/August 2022.
2019 - Anwar, Rushdi. “The Patterns of Displacement.” Writing & Concepts 2017, Art + Australia Documents Series No. 3, University of Melbourne.
2017 - Anwar, Rushdi. “Hanging Issues: Collaboration between Photography and Lana Paper Making.” Garland Magazine, Issue 6: Village Nation, Thailand.
Additional essays, exhibition catalogue texts, interviews, artist writings, and publications address contemporary art, materiality and form, memory, displacement, borders, trauma, and decolonial practice.
SELECTED AWARDS, GRANTS, RESIDENCIES AND FELLOWSHIPS
2026 - Civitella Ranieri Visual Arts Fellowship, Italy.
2023 - FD13 Residency Program, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.
2023 - Finalist, Artes Mundi 10, United Kingdom.
2020 - Finalist, Sovereign Asian Art Prize, Hong Kong.
2016 - Creative Victoria VicArts Grant, Australia.
2016 - Award for Installation Zone, The Artist Project Contemporary Art Fair, Toronto, Canada.
2015 - Australia-Thailand Institute Residency Grant, Australian Government.
2013 - Australian Postgraduate Award, RMIT University, Australian Government.
2012 - Australia-Thailand Institute Project Grant, Australian Government.
2011 - Vice-Chancellor’s List Award, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE, LECTURES AND CURATORIAL PRACTICE
International guest lecturer and speaker; curator and exhibition organiser; academic reviewer and assessor. Selected curatorial and collaborative projects include Wrapped in Culture Project (2015), The Hua Krathi Project (2013), and Matter and Space (2012).
SELECTED PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
• KADIST Foundation Collection
• Fondazione Imago Mundi Collection, Treviso, Italy
• Sharjah Art Foundation Collection, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
• Australian War Memorial Collection, Canberra, Australia
• Art Gallery of New South Wales Collection, Sydney, Australia
• Da Nang Fine Arts Museum Collection, Da Nang, Vietnam
• Ministry of Culture and Arts Collection, Kurdistan Regional Government, Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan-Iraq
• Mordant Family Collection, Australia
• Gene and Brian Sherman Collection, Sydney, Australia
• Private collections in Australia, Kurdistan-Iraq, Thailand, and Europe.