Born in Iraq and now based in the Netherlands, Sadik Kwaish Alfraji creates work that emerges from personal experiences of war, exile, and loss. Through drawing, video, and installation, he gives form to narratives of memory and emotion, shaped by displacement and longing.

One of his most iconic figures—a one-eyed profile—draws inspiration from ancient Sumerian sculpture. Yet in Alfraji’s hands, it transforms into a hauntingly modern portrait of psychological wounds and fractured identity.

For the 2025 Jeonnam International Sumuk Biennale, Alfraji presents Ali’s Boat, a work that began with a simple drawing from his young nephew:
“I want to escape on this boat,” the child wrote.
From this innocent yet poignant wish, Alfraji construct
s a multimedia piece using charcoal, drawing, video, and installation. The drifting boat and solitary figure seem suspended in time, simultaneously evoking the stillness of memory and the motion of exile. In this small personal gesture, he reveals a universal yearning for freedom amidst suffering.

His restrained use of materials and careful attention to empty space resonates closely with the aesthetics of East Asian ink painting. The silent figures on screen do not speak, yet they urge us to remember.

In line with the Biennale’s theme, Neighbors of Civilization – Somewhere over the Yellow Sea, Alfraji’s work invites us to contemplate “neighborliness beyond borders.”

To stand before his work is not just to witness one individual’s story—
but to recognize a collective human journey.