Rijin Sahakian’s work centers Iraq as a singular site of engagement. Her practice responds to formations of American political, military, and cultural life through propaganda disseminated to enable global violence in Iraq and to diminish Iraq’s long-standing experience of, and resistance to, these extraordinary conditions.

Sahakian founded Sada, a virtual and physically convened arts education project for Baghdad-based artists and art students. She curated Iraq: Reframe at the Montalvo Arts Center, City Limits at VCU Qatar, and Shangri La: Imagined Cities at the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. She has taught at the California Institute of the Arts and contributed writing to a range of catalogs and publications including Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here, Hyperallergic, Warscapes, e-flux journal, n+1, and The Derivative at the Beirut Art Center. Sahakian most recently produced an anthology film with former members of Sada for Documenta 15.

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