Through the powerful drawings of Kurdish-British artist Dr. Osman Ahmad, the memory of the 1988 Anfal genocide lives on—transforming art into an enduring act of remembrance, resistance, and historical testimony.

 Kurdish-British artist Dr. Osman Ahmad's exhibition preserves the memory of the 1988 Anfal genocide, using art to document one of the darkest chapters in Kurdish history.

When Art Becomes a Witness

History is often written through official records, political speeches, and legal judgments. Yet some of humanity's darkest chapters survive because artists refuse to let them disappear.

For the Kurdish people, the 1988 Anfal genocide remains one of the deepest collective traumas in modern history. Entire villages were erased, tens of thousands of civilians disappeared, and chemical weapons were deployed against Kurdish communities during Saddam Hussein's campaign to crush Kurdish resistance. Although decades have passed, the scars remain visible—not only across the landscapes of Kurdistan but also in the memories of those who survived.

While historians continue documenting the crimes of the Ba'ath regime, artists have played an equally vital role in preserving the human stories behind the statistics. Their work reminds the world that genocide is measured not only by numbers but by lives, families, and communities forever changed.

Among those artists, Dr. Osman Ahmad has emerged as one of the most powerful visual chroniclers of Kurdish suffering and resilience.

Drawing Memory Instead of Silence

Born in Iraq and now based in the United Kingdom, Dr. Osman Ahmad witnessed firsthand the violence inflicted upon the Kurdish people during the Anfal campaign. Rather than carrying a weapon, he chose another form of resistance—his pencil.

His distinctive line drawings capture moments that photographs often cannot: grief etched across a mother's face, exhausted Peshmerga fighters defending their homeland, families forced into displacement, and survivors carrying memories too painful for words.

His minimalist yet emotionally powerful style demonstrates how a single line can communicate trauma, dignity, and perseverance simultaneously.

Over the years, Ahmad's work has earned international recognition, appearing in institutions including Tate Modern and the Imperial War Museum, helping introduce global audiences to Kurdish history through visual storytelling.

Anfal: A Genocide That Must Not Be Forgotten

The Anfal campaign remains one of the most devastating episodes in modern Middle Eastern history.

Conducted by Saddam Hussein's regime in 1988, the campaign involved widespread village destruction, mass executions, forced displacement, arbitrary detention, and the extensive use of chemical weapons against Kurdish civilians. Thousands of villages were destroyed, while estimates of those killed range from tens of thousands to well over one hundred thousand.

The chemical attack on Halabja has become the most internationally recognized symbol of Anfal, but it represented only one chapter within a much broader campaign aimed at dismantling Kurdish society across northern Iraq.

The genocide fundamentally reshaped Kurdish political identity and continues to influence the Kurdistan Region's contemporary security policies, governance, and international partnerships.

Art as Historical Evidence

Unlike conventional historical records, art captures emotional truths that statistics cannot fully express.

Ahmad's exhibition, "My Line is a Living Memory," transforms survivor testimony into visual documentation. Developed through extensive research and interviews with survivors, the collection reflects not only personal memories but also a broader collective experience shared across generations.

Each drawing functions simultaneously as artwork, testimony, and historical archive.

For younger Kurdish generations born after Anfal, these images provide an accessible connection to a history they never witnessed. For international audiences unfamiliar with Kurdish history, they offer an introduction grounded in human experience rather than geopolitical abstraction.

In this sense, Ahmad's work performs an essential public function: preserving memory against denial, indifference, and historical amnesia.

The London Exhibition and Cultural Diplomacy

The exhibition at The Bhavan in London, supported by the Kurdistan Regional Government and promoted by the Kurdistan Society, illustrates how cultural diplomacy has become an increasingly important component of the Kurdistan Region's international engagement.

While governments traditionally communicate through diplomacy and security cooperation, art offers another avenue for building understanding.

Exhibitions such as My Line is a Living Memory enable international audiences to engage with Kurdish history through culture rather than conflict alone. They encourage reflection on human rights, historical justice, and the universal consequences of genocide.

In doing so, they strengthen awareness of Kurdistan's history while fostering broader dialogue between Kurdish society and international partners.

Why Remembering Still Matters

Nearly four decades after Anfal, remembrance remains politically and morally significant.

Across the world, societies continue to confront questions of accountability, transitional justice, and historical memory. Remembering past atrocities serves not merely to honor victims but also to reinforce the international norm that genocide must never be normalized or forgotten.

For the Kurdish people, preserving the memory of Anfal is inseparable from preserving national identity itself.

Every testimony recorded, every archive preserved, and every artwork displayed contributes to ensuring that future generations understand both the suffering endured and the resilience that followed.

The Enduring Power of a Pencil

Dr. Osman Ahmad's work demonstrates that resistance takes many forms.

Some defend their people on the battlefield.

Others preserve them in history.

Through thousands of carefully drawn lines, Ahmad has ensured that the voices of Anfal's victims continue to speak long after the guns fell silent. His art reminds us that while dictators may destroy villages, imprison communities, and attempt to erase identities, they cannot erase memory when it is carried by those determined to remember.

Ultimately, My Line is a Living Memory is more than an art exhibition.

It is an act of remembrance.

It is a historical archive.

It is a tribute to survival.

And it is a powerful reminder that some lines, once drawn, can never be erased.

It can convey emotions; it can preserve moments of history and draw light on those incidents no dictator can erase. Humanity has seen many brutal atrocities over the years, and there is one genocide that took place in 1988 that continues to remain a painful memory for the Kurdish people. Saddam Hussein's dictatorial regime seemed hell-bent on wiping out the Iraqi Kurds. The Al Anfal Campaign saw thousands of Iraqi Kurds killed. Human Rights Groups to this day do not fully know just how many Kurds were killed, but the number is believed to be well over 60,000.

This shocking moment in history involved all manner of destructive weapons being unleashed on the Kurds. Air strikes, artillery, mechanised assaults and barbaric chemical attacks were used by the regime. The tough Kurdish troops of the Peshmerga did put up ardent resistance, but still, many Kurdish lives were lost.

A couple of weeks ago, Karwan Jamal Tahir, High Representative in London for the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, kindly drew my attention to an event taking place here that will serve as a remembrance of this genocide. The Western world needs to remember the Anfal genocide, and the lessons from it must be analysed on deep levels to prevent other campaigns of cruelty from taking place.

It should also be recognised that the Kurds of Iraq have often provided a powerful ground force in the fight against terrorism, and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is keen to maintain strong alliances with the West. Having learnt about this event, I got in contact with Laura Roberts- the  Executive Director of the Kurdistan Society. Based in London, this organisation plays a key role in building bridges between Western governments and the KRG. It also raises awareness about Kurdish culture and traditions. My objective was to learn more about this cultural event in London and the inspiring artist behind it.

Dr Osman Ahmad is a Kurdish British artist from Iraq. He is highly regarded for his artwork, which has been exhibited at various galleries in Europe and the Middle East, including the Tate Modern and the Imperial War Museum. With the Peshmergas, he witnessed firsthand the atrocities that occurred during the Anfal genocide. Along with this, he witnessed the years of cultural and political repression endured by the Kurds. These experiences got channelled into his profound creative abilities. Osman seemed keen to wield his pencils and skills as an artist, as opposed to a firearm, to help the Kurdish people.

His journey took him to Iran, Turkey and Iraq before he eventually settled in the UK. This was a testing, arduous journey that would make for an interesting book in itself. Osman's work eventually caught the world's attention. Today, he continues to use his art as a powerful medium to raise awareness for the Kurdish people and their struggles.

This week, at a London gallery, The Bhavan in West Kensington, Osman's art exhibition, My Line is a Living Memory, will take place. Sponsored by the Kurdish Regional Government, this will be a very powerful way to remember the victims of the Al Anfal genocide. Osman's touching body of work not only remembers the victims, but it also serves as a crucial historical record, making sure that the voices of those who endured this cruelty are not forgotten.

Osman's exhibition is based on extensive research he conducted, collating the testimonies and eyewitness accounts of the survivors. It therefore serves as a collective memory, conveying not only the horrors of war but also the need for empathy and reflection. It is also a strong reminder that the Kurdish flame of life and perseverance continues to burn bright.

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