Mahmoud Aljawabra was born in Daraa, Syria in 1950 and he is one of the first group of artists to graduate from the Institute of Art in Damascus in 1972. Aljawabra belongs to the fourth generation of the Syrian modernist artists who were taught by early Syrian pioneer artists such as Mahmoud Hammad (1923-1988), Fateh Al-Moudarres (1922-1999), and Nazem Al-Jaafari (1918-2015). 

 

Aljawabra’s graduation concurs with the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, which forced him to enlist in a four year-military service before returning to his hometown where he established his own art studio and participated in establishing the Fine Arts Centre (1980) and Fine Artists Syndicate (1983) while working the art education sector. Aljawabra’s early artworks from the 1970s and 1980s were focused on themes concerning local identity. They depict scenes from his rural hometown in a simplified Realism style. By the end of the 1980s, he started to adopt an Expressionist style as he found in it two key opportunities. First, it was a way to develop artworks that could bypass censorship while being critical of social and political issues. Second, it served as a visual langue bridge that could reflect the complex relationships between local and global issues. 

 

Aljawabra ‘s work has been shown in several group and solo exhibitions inside and outside Syria since the 1980s. He has participated in the “Group of 10” exhibitions and all annual exhibitions of the Syrian Ministry of Culture and the Artists Union since 1982, the International Art Festival of Mediterranean countries in Italy in 2003, and the Capital of Islamic Culture Art Exhibition in Tabriz, Iran in 2018. Aljawabra’s artworks have also been exhibited in solo exhibitions inside and outside Syria such as his exhibition in Berlin, Germany in 2010 and his exhibition at the Art House gallery in Damascus in 2018. 
 

So far, Aljawabra has produced more than 500 artworks. While majority of the pre 2011 artworks have been lost or damaged due to the Syrian war, a number of them have been acquired by various public organisations in Syria such as the Ministry of Culture, the Artist Union, and Dumar Museum in Damascus. A number of Aljawabra’s artworks have been utilised in theatre shows produced by Syrian National Theatre, and as covers for books published by the Ministry of Culture and the Arab Writers Union in Syria. Al Jawabra’s artworks are also acquired by private collectors in Syria, Finland, Germany, France, Italy, Qatar, UAE, Lebanon, and Algeria. 

 

Aljawabra has held several prestigious positions in Syria’s art institutions including serving as the President of the Fine Artists Syndicate in Daraa between 1996 and 2015, as a member of the organising committee of Bosra Alsham International Festival 2008, and as a member in the Executive Office of Syria’s Fine Artists Union between 2015 and 2020. Aljawabra has received several awards from the Syrian Council of Ministers, the Artists Union, the Ministry of Culture, and the Governorate of Daraa. He participated in several art-focused TV programs such as "The Cultural Magazine", "Cultural Pages", "Artists" and "Homeland’s Memory" that were produced by and aired on the Syrian TV. In addition to his membership in the Syrian Artist Union, he is also an Honorary member of the Algerian Artists Union and the Arab Artists Union. 

 

Aljawabra lives and works between Damascus, Dubai and Doha where he is finalising the preparation for a retrospective exhibition (2012 -2022) that will narrate the story of life in Syria during the past 10 years.