This essay reflects on the recent turn toward Global Modernism, a movement that promises to provide expanded histories of modern art which attend to the complexities of global cultural currents and exchanges. It also seeks to introduce readers to the potentials of three globally framed discussions of Iraqi modern art. Discussions begin with the nature of Iraqi artists as cultural translators who travel to, dwell in, and return from foreign environs to become teachers and practitioners. Moving into a consideration of contact zones, the essay then presents the fruitful connection between The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation based in Lisbon and the artistic communities of Baghdad. As a third prospect for a global history of modern Iraqi art, the author considers the transnational relations inherent in the intertwined histories of Iraqi oil and twentieth-century Iraqi artistic production.
Iraq, Modernisms, Globalism, Travel, Translation, Oil.